AFP, New York :
Oil prices surged in the final minutes of trade Friday to end higher, having traded down most of the day after OPEC said it would keep output unchanged.
After falling more than $3.00 the past two sessions, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery added $1.13 to end at $59.13 a barrel.
In London, Brent crude for July gained $1.28 to $63.31 a barrel, likewise following two days of losses of more than $3.40 a barrel.
Meeting in Vienna on Friday, oil ministers of the 12-nation OPEC cartel defied calls to cut output despite the low price of crude, extending their strategy to preserve market share and fend off competition from the US shale energy boom.
They kept their collective target at 30 million barrels per day-where it has stood for more than three and a half years.
“The ceiling is the same. You will be surprised how amicable the meeting was,” Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters.
“There is a commitment from all the ministers that they will adhere” to the target, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah El-Badri said.
OPEC countries are reported to be actually pumping more than 31 million barrels a day, with the risk of more coming on line.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh revealed Iran could ramp up oil production by an extra one million barrels per day within half a year of sanctions being removed.
“We do not need any agreement. We will return to the market any time sanctions are lifted,” Zanganeh said upon his exit from the OPEC meeting Friday.
At the same time, Iraq is currently pumping more oil than planned from southern and northern areas not besieged by Islamic State jihadists.
Oil prices surged in the final minutes of trade Friday to end higher, having traded down most of the day after OPEC said it would keep output unchanged.
After falling more than $3.00 the past two sessions, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery added $1.13 to end at $59.13 a barrel.
In London, Brent crude for July gained $1.28 to $63.31 a barrel, likewise following two days of losses of more than $3.40 a barrel.
Meeting in Vienna on Friday, oil ministers of the 12-nation OPEC cartel defied calls to cut output despite the low price of crude, extending their strategy to preserve market share and fend off competition from the US shale energy boom.
They kept their collective target at 30 million barrels per day-where it has stood for more than three and a half years.
“The ceiling is the same. You will be surprised how amicable the meeting was,” Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters.
“There is a commitment from all the ministers that they will adhere” to the target, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah El-Badri said.
OPEC countries are reported to be actually pumping more than 31 million barrels a day, with the risk of more coming on line.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh revealed Iran could ramp up oil production by an extra one million barrels per day within half a year of sanctions being removed.
“We do not need any agreement. We will return to the market any time sanctions are lifted,” Zanganeh said upon his exit from the OPEC meeting Friday.
At the same time, Iraq is currently pumping more oil than planned from southern and northern areas not besieged by Islamic State jihadists.
