OPEC agrees to keep taps open to cool oil prices

VIENNA (Reuters) –
OPEC said on Wednesday it will keep oil output close to the limit to bring prices within consumers’ comfort zone and fill supply gaps, but a threat by
Iran to review its oil exports cast a shadow.

Iran issued its warning at the
United Nations’
International Atomic Energy Agency even as the nation’s oil minister sat down across town with OPEC colleagues to discuss oil output, export disruptions in Nigeria and
Iraq and prices above $60 a barrel.

Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri struck a softer note, saying: “We have no intention of reducing any of our exports.”

OPEC president Edmund Daukoru of Nigeria said there will be no change to the group’s 28 million barrels per day ceiling in place since July 2005, despite forecasts for lower demand in spring.

“There are simply too many geopolitical factors to change production,” he said.

Reuters