Oil rose in Asian trade today after OPEC failed to agree to raise output to aid a faltering global economy.
Oil prices - OPEC fails to reach decision on raising output
Related Stories
Oil prices jump as OPEC can't agree
Oil prices rise on weak dollar boost
US economy worries knock oil prices
US reserves surge hits oil prices
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, gained 49 cents to $101.23 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for July delivery rose 27 cents to $118.12.
The Vienna meeting yesterday broke up without agreement, keeping its official output target at 24.84 million barrels per day, where it has stood since January 2009.
'Unfortunately, we are unable to reach a consensus this time to reduce or raise our production,' OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri said after the meeting.
Traders had earlier speculated that the 12-nation Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would boost production quotas to cool oil prices. The International Energy Agency said it was 'disappointed' by OPEC's decision and urged producers to pump more anyway to avoid higher oil prices.
The next OPEC meeting will be in mid-December in Vienna to reassess the oil market situation, said Iran's caretaker oil minister Mohammad Aliabadi, whose country holds the rotating OPEC presidency.
Some OPEC members are worried that the oil market will tighten in the coming months - as seasonal demand hits a peak in the northern hemisphere summer - pushing oil prices even higher.
Coupled with the continued unrest in the oil-producing Middle East and North African region, analysts expected oil demand to rise in the next few months.
