“Everyone is concerned about… the prices, no one is happy”, said Iraq’s oil minister Adil Abd Al Mahdi.
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Crude oil prices have increased due to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries surprise decision to not declare its official production quota demonstrates the widening divide among cartel members on Iran’s expected boost in the oil market, experts have told Anadolu Agency.
Brent North Sea crude for January delivery, the global benchmark for oil, fell to US$43.00 a barrel in London, down 84 cents (1.9 per cent) from Thursday’s settlement.
US crude oil prices extended gains on Friday, buoyed by a weaker dollar, ahead a closely watched OPEC meeting that is unlikely to alter the group’s policy of maintaining high output.
The U.K. has begun airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, just hours after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of expanding Britain’s bombing campaign.
OPEC on Friday did not set a new oil output ceiling, with major oil producers reluctant to cut the supply.
Members met today in order to resolve issues with production limits in order to keep certain oil-producing countries afloat, as the number is a bit high for some of them to keep up.
Houston’s Fuel Fix reports that “Indonesia, which produced an estimated 789,000 barrels a day past year and has 3.7 billion barrels in reserve, originally joined OPEC in 1962 and left the group in 2009”.
Another factor in not settling on a ceiling figure was Iran’s full return to the market at some point next year, Badri said.
The oil price tumbled by more than half in 2014, and has hit new lows in recent weeks.
Addressing delegates earlier, Kachikwu projected that demand for OPEC crude would rise by 1.2 million barrels per day to average 30.8 million barrels per day for the year 2016 leading to a more balanced market. “Practically, there is now no ceiling for OPEC”, he said. “That’s the argument that has carried the day in Opec, and the heavy pressure on non-Opec producers, especially United States shale, is going to be kept up”. “Others should do the same”, the Iraqi minister further said, referring to non-OPEC countries such as US.
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For its part, Iran has repeatedly said it would add 1 million barrels of oil to the market each day when economic penalties are lifted. He said it is hard to predict how much Tehran would pump as Western sanctions against its nuclear program are lifted.
