Indian basket at $78.88

India's crude oil basket Monday ended at a new high of $78.88 per 1 barrel, up $1.1 from Friday, a petroleum and natural gas ministry release said today.

Reports of threats from Turkey to invade northern Iraq to deal with rebels are keeping international crude oil prices on the boil. The area is close to major crude oil pipelines and any conflict can possibly disrupt supplies from Iraq.

Crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange touched a record $86.22 a barrel intraday. Benchmark November NYMEX contract closed at $86.13 (Rs 3,385) a barrel, up $2.44 (Rs 96 from the previous close.

Expectation of higher winter demand is also keeping crude prices firm. India's crude basket comprises Oman-Dubai sour (high sulphur) grade crude and Brent dated sweet (low sulphur) crude in 59.8:40.2 ratio. On Monday, Brent crude ended at $82.70 a barrel, up $1.79 from the previous close.

Dubai crude on Monday ended up 72 cents at $76.02 a barrel, while Oman crude closed at $76.62 a barrel, up 57 cents.

So far this month, India's crude oil basket has averaged $76.13 a barrel compared with $74.83 in September and $69.03 in August. In the financial year ended March, the basket averaged $62.46 a barrel as against $55.72 the previous year.