Business

OPEC to keep 30 million barrel output target

By George Jahn
Published June 14, 2012 8:49pm ET
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OPEC to keep 30 million barrel output target
Secretary General of OPEC Abdalla Salem El-Badri of Libya gestures as he waits for the start of a seminar of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, at Vienna's Hofburg palace, Austria, on Thursday, June 14, 2012. OPEC ministers are coming into a meeting Thursday deeply divided over how much crude to pump, with Saudi Arabia keen to keep a lid on prices, rival Iran pushing to cut production and Iraq expected to back Iran, its longtime foe under Saddam Hussein. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) | Ronald Zak

VIENNA (AP) — OPEC oil ministers agreed Thursday to keep their production target steady, in a compromise meant to defuse rivalries between Iran and Saudi Arabia and to send a soothing message to economically troubled consuming nations.

Oil prices have fallen more than 20 percent over the past two months, and a statement from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries citied “downside risks facing the global economy” and ample stocks of crude as being responsible for the trend.

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