Talks among Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) broke down yesterday without an agreement to raise output after Saudi Arabia failed to convince the cartel of boosting production.
�Unfortunately we are unable to reach a consensus to reduce or raise production,� OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri told reporters.
�This is one of the worst meetings we have ever had,� said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi.
Mr. Naimi said six countries in the 12-member group were opposed to an increase in output.
He said Gulf Arab countries had proposed an increase to 30.3 million barrels a day, compared to current supply of about 29 million bpd, including Iraq, which is not bound by an OPEC quota.
El-Badri said the effective decision was no change in policy but he expressed the hope that OPEC would meet again in three months� time.
The next OPEC meeting would be on December 14.
Failure to reach an agreement will be a blow for industrialized consumer countries who were expecting OPEC to take action to stem fuel inflation. No date has been set for another meeting.
Brent crude rose $1.64 a barrel to $118.42.
Gulf Arab delegates said Iran, Venezuela and Algeria were among those who refused to consider an output increase.
Non-Gulf delegates said Saudi Arabia had proposed an increase on top of April supplies that was too high for them to contemplate.
Earlier in the week, a Gulf official said Saudi was already raising output by at least 500,000 barrels per day to 9.5-9.7 million barrels per day.
Forecasts suggest more oil is required to stop oil prices rising again.
OPEC�s Vienna secretariat sees demand in the second half of the year 1.7 million barrels per day higher than current cartel output.