Oil price hike from Opec deal may snuff itself out, says IEA

Hong Kong

AN oil price surge triggered by a successful Opec agreement to cut production could be snuffed out as supply surges back, according to the head of International Energy Agency.

If Opec members agree to limit supplies at their meeting next week, prices could rise to US$60 a barrel and trigger a jump in global output, particularly from US shale producers, Fatih Birol,executive director of the Paris-based IEA, said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. The output boom could put downward pressure on prices again within nine months to a year, he said.