OPEC daily basket price drops by over $1.5

Vienna: The basket of 12 crude oils of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) closed at $54.23 a barrel on Tuesday, compared to $55.76 on Monday, a drop of over $1.5, the organisation's secretariat said.

This is the first time since April this year that the price has fallen below $55.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes is made up of Murban (UAE), Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia) and Merey (Venezuela). A barrel equals 159 litres.