OPEC agrees on $34 oil; pennies more at US pump

October 30, 1981

OPEC agreed on a new oil price that will result in gasoline and home heating oil costing a couple of pennies more per gallon. The new benchmark is $34 a barrel for Saudi Arabian oil, up from $32 a barrel. A new top price for high-quality grades is $38.

Saudi Arabia insisted on a price freeze through the end of next year as the condition for raising its price.

The compromise ends two years of internal OPEC bickering over prices. OPEC has met three times in the past six months in trying to reach a pricing concensus.