Oil prices fall after Opec agrees to increase output limit

[LONDON] Oil prices fell on Friday after sources said Opec had agreed to roll over its policy of maintaining crude production in order to retain market share and raise its output ceiling.

Brent crude futures were last down 47 cents on the day at $43.37 barrel by 1459 GMT, compared with around $44.69 shortly before the decision came out.

US crude futures were down 66 cents on the day at $40.44 a barrel, having traded around $41.76 ahead of the decision.

Opec had been widely expected to stick with its year-old policy, despite pressure from poorer members of the cartel for a cut in output to prop up the price of oil.

Opec sources said it had agreed to raise its output ceiling to 31.5 million bpd at its meeting in Vienna, in what appeared to be an effective acknowledgement of existing production. "Overall, it looks like business as usual. The production cut needs to come from outside Opec, so attention turning back to US producers," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.

REUTERS