Editing OPEC (section)

==Market information==
As one area in which OPEC members have been able to cooperate productively over the decades, the organisation has significantly improved the quality and quantity of information available about the international oil market. This is especially helpful for a natural-resource industry whose smooth functioning requires months and years of careful planning.

===Publications and research===
[[File:Jodi-circle-logo.png|thumb|alt=refer to caption|Logo for [[Joint Organisations Data Initiative|JODI]], in which OPEC is a founding member]]
In April 2001, OPEC collaborated with five other international organizations ([[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|APEC]], [[Eurostat]], [[International Energy Agency|IEA]], {{interlanguage link|Latin American Energy Organisation|es|Organización Latinoamericana de Energía|lt=OLADE}}, [[United Nations Statistics Division|UNSD]]) to improve the availability and reliability of oil data. They launched the Joint Oil Data Exercise, which in 2005 was joined by [[International Energy Forum|IEF]] and renamed the [[Joint Organisations Data Initiative]] (JODI), covering more than 90% of the global oil market. [[Gas Exporting Countries Forum|GECF]] joined as an eighth partner in 2014, enabling JODI also to cover nearly 90% of the global market for natural gas.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jodidata.org/about-jodi/history.aspx |title=History of the Joint Organisations Data Initiative |work=JODI |access-date=23 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012051500/https://www.jodidata.org/about-jodi/history.aspx |archive-date=12 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since 2007, OPEC has published the "World Oil Outlook" (WOO) annually, in which it presents a comprehensive analysis of the global oil industry including medium- and long-term projections for supply and demand.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/publications/340.htm |title=World Oil Outlook |work=OPEC |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224154110/http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/publications/340.htm |archive-date=24 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> OPEC also produces an "Annual Statistical Bulletin" (ASB),<ref name=ASB>{{cite web |url=http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/publications/202.htm |title=Annual Statistical Bulletin |work=OPEC |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821113032/https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/publications/202.htm |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> and publishes more-frequent updates in its "Monthly Oil Market Report" (MOMR)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/publications/338.htm |title=Monthly Oil Market Report |work=OPEC |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227170559/http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/publications/338.htm |archive-date=27 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> and "OPEC Bulletin".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/76.htm |title=OPEC Bulletin |work=OPEC |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105070452/http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/76.htm |archive-date=5 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Crude oil benchmarks===
{{See also|Benchmark (crude oil)}}
A "crude oil benchmark" is a standardized [[Petroleum#Classification|petroleum]] product that serves as a convenient reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil, including standardized contracts in major [[futures markets]] since 1983. Benchmarks are used because oil prices differ (usually by a few dollars per barrel) based on variety, grade, delivery date and location, and other legal requirements.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/904748.stm |title=Oil markets explained |work=BBC News |date=18 October 2007 |access-date=6 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913114404/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/904748.stm |archive-date=13 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/603911468739482147/pdf/multi-page.pdf |title=The new era of petroleum trading: spot-oil, spot-related contracts, and futures markets |first=Hossein |last=Razavi |publisher=The World Bank |date=April 1989 |isbn=978-0-8213-1199-8 |pages=65–69 |access-date=4 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205095734/http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/603911468739482147/pdf/multi-page.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[OPEC Reference Basket|OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes]] has been an important benchmark for oil prices since 2000. It is calculated as a [[weighted average]] of prices for petroleum blends from the OPEC member countries: [[Sahara Blend|Saharan Blend]] (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Republic of the Congo)<!--New Zafiro? (Equatorial Guinea),--> Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), [[Bonny Light oil|Bonny Light]] (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE), and Merey (Venezuela).<ref name=basket>{{cite web |url=http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/40.htm |title=OPEC Basket Price |work=OPEC |access-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501131417/https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/40.htm |archive-date=1 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Brent Crude|North Sea Brent Crude Oil]] is the leading [[Benchmark (crude oil)|benchmark]] for Atlantic basin crude oils and is used to price approximately two-thirds of the world's traded crude oil. Other well-known benchmarks are [[West Texas Intermediate]] (WTI), [[Dubai Crude]], [[DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract|Oman Crude]], and [[Urals oil]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/8429184/Brent-crude-and-other-oil-price-benchmarks.html |title=Brent crude and other oil price benchmarks |agency=Reuters |date=5 April 2011 |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925075958/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/8429184/Brent-crude-and-other-oil-price-benchmarks.html |archive-date=25 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Oil price benchmarks.webp|thumb|300px|
{{legend-line|#929292 solid 3px|[[West Texas Intermediate]]}}
{{legend-line|#000000 solid 3px|[[Brent Crude]]}}
{{legend-line|#EE220C solid 3px|[[Urals oil]] (Russian export mix)}}
{{legend-line|#00A2FF solid 3px|[[Dubai Crude]]}}
{{legend-line|#A21726 solid 3px|OPEC Basket Price}}
]]

===Spare capacity===
The [[Energy Information Administration|US Energy Information Administration]], the statistical arm of the [[US Department of Energy]], defines spare capacity for crude oil market management "as the volume of production that can be brought on within 30 days and sustained for at least 90 days&nbsp;... OPEC spare capacity provides an indicator of the world oil market's ability to respond to potential crises that reduce oil supplies."<ref name="EIA_2014" />

In November 2014, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that OPEC's "effective" spare capacity, adjusted for ongoing disruptions in countries like Libya and Nigeria, was {{convert|3.5|Moilbbl/d|m3/d}} and that this number would increase to a peak in 2017 of {{convert|4.6|Moilbbl/d|m3/d}}.<ref>{{cite journal |title='Effective' OPEC Spare Capacity: Reality-Based Data |url=http://www.iea.org/media/ieajournal/Issue7_WEB.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502040956/http://www.iea.org/media/ieajournal/Issue7_WEB.pdf |journal=IEA Energy |issue=7 |page=13 |date=November 2014 |archive-date=2 May 2016}}</ref> By November 2015, the IEA changed its assessment{{quantify|date=March 2020}} "with OPEC's spare production buffer stretched thin, as Saudi Arabia – which holds the lion's share of excess capacity – and its [Persian] Gulf neighbours pump at near-record rates."<ref>{{cite journal |title=3 billion barrel cushion |journal=Oil Market Report |url=https://www.iea.org/oilmarketreport/reports/2015/1115/ |date=13 November 2015 |access-date=15 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222164633/https://www.iea.org/oilmarketreport/reports/2015/1115/ |archive-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>