OPEC maintains current oil output

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has decided to maintain current production levels despite calls from the industry to push oil prices higher.

OPEC took the decision to keep the “same” output target of 30 million barrels per day, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, said in Vienna on Friday.

He dismissed rumours of disagreement between poorer members, who are believed to have been pressing for a drop in production at the gathering of the 12-nation group in Austria’s capital.

“The ceiling is the same. You will be surprised how amicable the meeting was,” Naimi said after the meeting.

Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq and Venezuela had all appealed that the organisation, which produces one-third of global oil output, increases output for higher prices.

OPEC is pursuing its plan to maintain market share and exert pressure on high-cost US shale producers.

The decision leaves OPEC’s official collective target at a level where it has stood for more than three and a half years.

However, OPEC, which comprises nations from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, is actually pumping 31.2 million barrels per day, due to increased supplies from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, according to International Energy Agency estimates.