Oil mixed after OPEC crude output decision

SINGAPORE – Oil was mixed in Asian trade Thursday after OPEC ministers agreed to higher crude output without setting new quota rules, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery was four cents higher at $94.99 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery 13 cents down at $104.89.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday announced that production will be maintained at 30 million barrels per day (bpd).

That acknowledged that the cartel has been consistently overproducing its own quotas.

Excluding the production of Iraq — which is not held to quotas for now — OPEC output in November was about 11 percent, or more than three million barrels, above the official group total limit of 24.8 million bpd.

OPEC, whose 12 members produce about one third of the world’s oil supply and include Saudi Arabia, meets periodically to set production levels.

“The OPEC agreed a target of 30 million barrels daily, ratifying current production near three-year highs,” analysts from Phillip Futures said in a report.

“Besides, worries that the OPEC lacked a mechanism to quickly trim production of individual member quotas, after agreeing on a high output ceiling, added to selling pressure.”