The cartel said it was leaving its output ceiling of 30m barrels a day unchanged, in a significant departure from its traditional policy of cutting production to prop up falling oil prices.
Any further fall in the price of crude, which has dropped by nearly 40 per cent since mid-June, will mean more pain for oil exporting countries and global energy companies, and could endanger billions of dollars of investment in new oil projects.
After Thursday’s decision was announced, ICE January Brent, the international oil benchmark, fell by $6.50 a barrel to $71.25, its steepest one-day fall since 2011. It later pared its losses to trade at $72.55… (more)
