Iran Heavy Crude at $47.30 in October

Iran's crude oil futures traded $47.30 per barrel in October, up more than 14% from the average September price of $41.39 a barrel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report on Friday.

The price of Iran Heavy, the country's main oil blend, along with those of other petroleum blends in the OPEC basket price, were reinforced by the group's decision in September to cut supplies to levels between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels a day to ease glut and shore up prices.

However, each barrel of Iranian crude has averaged $38.12 so far this year, which is notably lower than its average trading price of $51.51 in 2015.

Brent, the global crude benchmark, settled at $49.74 in October, or 6.5% higher than its monthly average in September. Brent futures settled at $44.75 per barrel on Friday. US West Texas Intermediate futures were down by $1.25, or 2.8%, to $43.41 per barrel, after recovering from a low of $43.04.

Arab Light, one of the main oil blends of OPEC's top producer Saudi Arabia, traded 13% higher in monthly trading at $48.26. Iraq, the group's No. 2 exporter, sold its Basrah Light blend at $46.79 a barrel in October.

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes averaged 11.6% higher in October, settling at $47.87, its highest monthly average since July 2015 and the highest level so far in 2016.

Oil traded at around $115 a barrel during its peak levels two years ago, but prices nosedived to multiyear lows in January before gaining some ground over the past few weeks.

Iran, which has said it is exempt from OPEC’s accord to cut production, told the group it raised output by the most since international sanctions were lifted.

Iran said it increased output by 210,000 barrels a day to 3.92 million barrels a day in October from the previous month, or some 230,000 bpd more than estimated by OPEC itself.

According to secondary sources, Iran's October exports rose 27.5% to 3,690 million bpd.

OPEC’s monthly report contains two sets of production data: one submitted by individual members, known as “direct communication,” and another compiled from external sources such as news agencies and intergovernmental institutions, referred to as “secondary sources.”

Riyadh told the 14-member organization it cut production by 25,000 barrels in October to 10,625 million bpd.

Nigeria, whose production fell to 20-year lows earlier this year following a spate of militant attack on its oil infrastructure, boosted output the most in October. The producer added 223,100 barrels to daily output last month, raising production to 1,476 million bpd. Global crude supplies also rose by 0.97 million bpd last month to an average of 96.32 million barrels per day, the report said based on preliminary data.