OPEC may raise prices 10% or so by year-end

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will likely increase the price of its oil by at least 10 percent by the end of the year, oil industry executives said. IT said the price of OPEC oil is also likely to rise in 1981, with the rate of increase probably determined by how long the Gulf war interrupts exports from Iran and Iraq. Price increases before January could be more than 10 percent unless oil companies can be persuaded to draw on stocks to make up the loss of Iraqi and Iranian supplies, rather than buy high-priced oil on the free market.