Opec ministers were edging towards a decision to keep oil output broadly steady at their meeting on Wednesday, the FT reports, moving to heal the profound differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran that led to the collapse of the previous meeting in June. The oil cartel painted a sanguine picture for the energy market heading into 2012, with Riyadh and Tehran largely agreeing on the outlook. The two countries, the two biggest producers in Opec, had clashed over levels at the group’s previous meeting in June which ended with no formal agreement on output targets. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates unilaterally increased production to make up for the loss of output from Libya.

This entry was posted by Kate Mackenzie on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 at 4:25 and is featured in The 6am Cut London (14 Dec 2011), The Lunch Wrap (14 Dec 2011) . Tagged with crude oil, Opec, saudi arabia, Syria. Edit this entry.