VIENNA — OPEC ministers reached quick agreement Friday on keeping output targets steady but deferred solutions on how to deal with surging U.S. shale oil production and internal rivalries denting the organization’s image of unity.
The 12-nation oil cartel’s decision on keeping the status quo on production of 30 million barrels a day was expected. The price for internationally traded benchmark oil is over $100 per barrel, a level most OPEC countries are happy with.
That’s not the case for customers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. With Europe fighting a stubborn economic downturn and recovery weak in many other parts of the globe, most governments consider oil pricey, as do consumers at the gas pump.
But OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Al-Badry said much of the end price was due to add-ons beyond producers’ control.
“You fill your tank with the cost of oil plus taxes,” he told reporters. “If governments want to … do something to the price, they should reduce their taxes.”
In a post-meeting statement, the ministers suggested they could hold an emergency meeting on reducing output should market prices fall substantially.
“Geopolitical tensions are holding the price of oil high,” said John Hall of Alfa Energy, alluding to turmoil in Syria and tensions over the nuclear program of OPEC member Iran. “OPEC doesn’t have to act; the market is acting for it.”
