Agencies/Vienna

Brent crude oil plunged as much as $6.50 a barrel yesterday, and US crude fell by nearly as much, posting the steepest one-day falls since 2011, after Opec decided against cutting output despite a huge oversupply in world markets.
Qatar’s Minister of Energy and Industry HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada said yesterday that he sees harmony among Opec members and does not see a crisis.
Asked whether the oil producer group had decided not to reduce production, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters: “That is right.”
Oil prices have fallen by more than a third since June as increasing production in North America from shale oil has overwhelmed demand at a time of sluggish global economic growth.
Ministers from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries had been discussing at their meeting in Vienna whether to agree a production cut in an attempt to rebalance the global oil market.
The organisation pumping out one-third of the world’s oil opted to stick by its output target, even after prices have plunged by 35% in value since June.
The 12-nation group “decided to maintain the production level of 30mn barrels per day” where it has stood for three years, Opec said in a communique.
Opec Secretary-General Abdullah El-Badri said the organisation would sit tight before the next output meeting scheduled for June in Vienna, where it is headquartered.
“We have to wait and see how the market will settle,” he told the meeting’s closing press conference.
“As I said many times... we don’t want to panic.”
Opec’s decision not to cut oil output to support prices was prompted by fear of losing market share to competitors, Kuwait’s oil minister said.
“Today, there are many competitors, and Opec pumps just 30% of global output,” Ali Omair told local Al-Watan satellite channel from Vienna.
“It was inevitable to take the right decision not to cut production because it can be compensated by others present in the market, who have the ability to do so.”
“Accordingly, we decided that price will adjust itself based on supply and demand and that Opec is supposed to safeguard its market share in order not to lose its clients,” the Kuwaiti minister said.
Crude prices have been falling all week as traders and analysts scaled back expectations of an Opec production cut, but the sharp dive after yesterday’s meeting showed the decision was not fully priced in.
Benchmark Brent futures settled at $72.58 a barrel, down $5.17, after hitting a four-year low of $71.25 earlier in the session. The contract was on track for its biggest monthly fall since 2008.
US crude was last down $4.64 at $69.05 a barrel. Prices fell rapidly in early US trade, before stabilising as market activity dropped off towards midday, with many traders away for the US Thanksgiving holiday.
At its lowest point yesterday, US crude traded at $67.75, nearly $6down on the day, its weakest since May 2010.
Tariq Zahir, analyst at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York, said the slide in US crude could continue below $65 a barrel in coming weeks, a factor that may start to challenge the economics of North American shale oil production.






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