As a result, the demand for oil fell and by 2 p.m. on Monday, Brent had decreased by 20 cents, reaching $44.66 a barrel, and while U.S. Crude went up by 1 cent to $41.72, it was still significantly lower than its session high of $42.61.
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The statement released on Friday said the group will “closely monitor market developments in the coming months”.
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.
The production outlook appears to be a victory for Saudi Arabia, which has been under pressure from Opec’s poorer members to cut output and help bolster prices.
The next OPEC meeting isn’t scheduled until June 2016, but some oil ministers departing the meeting on Friday said there could be one before then.
Iran, which was once the second biggest oil producer in OPEC, has repeatedly stated that it is planning to increase its oil production by 500,000 barrels per day immediately after the sanctions are lifted, and by another 500,000 barrels per day within the following six months.
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.
“We are only 35 percent of the producers and there are still 65… percent producers out there”, said conference president Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu.
An internal OPEC document exclusively viewed by the Wall Street Journal showed the cartel, which supplies around 40% of global oil supply, believes if it trims daily output down to 30 million barrels versus the current 31.5 million, it “would not be sufficient to completely clear the current supply overhang”, due to large inventories.
OPEC has reportedly agreed to raise its production ceiling to 31.5 bpd.
Saudi Arabia yesterday reiterated its stance that it would be willing to cut as long as non-OPEC also reduces its output.
The lack of an official quota followed a marathon meeting in Vienna and effectively leaves output steady at 30 million barrels a day.
Amidst falling oil prices, a lowering of the output ceiling to prop up price was half expected by some analysts but OPEC decided otherwise, opting instead to keep its market share.
Indonesia’s re-entry will “simply acknowledge the reclassification of Indonesian output from non-OPEC to OPEC production”, said Julian Jessop, analyst at Capital Economics research group.
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Global oil stockpiles have risen to record levels as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq boosted supply, the IEA said on November 13.
