Oil prices mixed as OPEC keeps output steady

17 March 2009

The decision by the ministers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep output targets at current levels of 24.85 million barrels per day (mbpd) kept oil prices mixed on Monday. (See: No more output cuts for now, says OPEC).  

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for April, leapt $1.10 to close at $47.35 a barrel on Monday.

However, in London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April shed 95 cents from Friday's close to settle at $43.98 a barrel.

Oil prices earlier had fallen a bit after the OPEC meeting on Sunday in Vienna to leave members' production quotas unchanged.

The cartel members explained they wanted to concentrate on compliance with reductions in output quotas decided in the final months of 2008, which represent a combined 4.2 mbpd. OPEC, excluding Iraq, has 6.4 million bpd of spare capacity following its recent cuts.

OPEC's cuts since last September have helped to pull prices up from a low of $32.40 in December to around $46 now.