VIENNA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price increased to 26.54 U.S. dollars a barrel on Friday, compared with 24.93 dollars on Thursday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations released on Monday.

File photo: CGTN

Also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, the OPEC basket, a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members around the world, is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices.