WTI oil futures open Thursday’s trading session firm at $101 a barrel after yesterday’s OPEC meeting in Vienna saw member countres unable to reach an agreement on production targets for the first time in at least 20 years, output quotas are unchanged.
Latest WTI Oil Price
US Light crude oil futures for July 2011 delivery was trading at $101.36 a barrel, 07.45 GMT this morning in electronic trading on the NYMEX.
OPEC Members Divided
OPEC member countries Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE wanted an increase to dampen an oil price that has gained 25 percent since tensions erupted in the Middle East this spring while Libya, Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iraq and Iran wanted to keep production unchanged.
Meanwhile, an IEA spokesman urged OPEC members to disobey the quotas, saying “What really matters is actual supply, which should move in line with seasonally rising demand, and we urge key producers to respond accordingly.”
“OPEC is thus on the point of break up, and the biggest beneficiaries may well prove to be Russia and Kazakhstan.” he said, since these countries are major rival producers
