OPEC President Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, also Nigeria's oil minister, said that the cartel decided to keep on producing crude at the actual level instead of the official quota.
The decision was announced during an OPEC meeting and triggered a sharp tumble in oil prices on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Quotes plummeted by almost 1.5 US dollars in a few minutes.
The minister noted that Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries still has not specified a production ceiling. Today, the crude output among OPEC countries is estimated at 31-32 million barrels per day.
Iraq's oil minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said to journalists that the quota is held at indefinite level of about 30-31 barrels a day.
A decision on the quota was not taken because of the position of countries beyond the cartel. The Iraqi minister believes that all countries should impose output limits to stabilize crude oil prices.
Besides, Iran’s resurgence to the global market may require a new OPEC meeting. Kachikwu points out that the decision is postponed to the next meeting with Iran attending it. In this case, it will be easier to define the figure.
The media report that Russia may become a member of an experts-level meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC countries in mid-December.
