By Benoit Faucon
VIENNA--Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries agreed Thursday to stick to the oil-producer group's
existing output target of 30 million barrels of oil a day, a
decision that implies it will cut production from recent levels but
stops some way short of the action needed to boost sagging global
oil prices.
Asked about the decision of the OPEC meeting Thursday, Kuwaiti
Oil Minister Ali Saleh Al-Omair said "No change."
Sticking to its current production ceiling of 30 million barrels
a day would involve an OPEC supply cut of around 300,000 barrels a
day based on the cartel's output in October.
Oil prices plunged on the news, with Brent crude down 3.2% to
75.26 a barrel.
A cut of that size would be less than needed to reduce the
imbalances in global oil markets, caused largely by a slew of new
oil supply from the U.S. and weaker global demand growth. Analysts
have estimated OPEC would need to take 1 million to 1.5 million
barrels a day off the market to support oil prices, which have
fallen by more than 30% since the summer.
Moreover, it remains unclear how the group will enforce its own
production target.
Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
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