OPEC agreement not to increase production

Associated Press

A meeting of OPEC and its allies ended without any decision to further increase oil output despite President Donald Trump’s call for lower prices.

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries met Sept. 23 in Algiers with non-members including Russia. The committee said in a statement that it was satisfied “regarding the current oil market outlook, with an overall healthy balance between supply and demand.”

It also urged “countries with spare capacity to work with customers to meet their demand during the remaining month of 2018.”

Trump has been calling publicly for OPEC to help lower prices by producing more. “We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices!” he tweeted Sept. 20.

Drop in Iran’s supply

The price rise is notably caused by a recent drop in Iran’s supply because of U.S. sanctions. OPEC and Russia have capped production since January 2017 to bolster prices.

Output fell below those targets this year, and in June the same countries agreed to boost the oil supply. Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters that participating countries have provided over the last three months “a lot of supply to offset decreases” in Iran, Venezuela and Mexico. “Markets are quite balanced today, there’s plenty of supply to meet any customer that needs it.”