OPEC Puts Hold on Oil Output, Prices Increase

 the oil cartel that largely controls the flow of oil to the world, made a surprise move yesterday when it left production levels unchanged. While the group typically prides itself on reaching a consensus, officials with the group admitted that the meeting ended without an opec esult of the decision was an almost immediate increase in oil prices globally. Noted OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Al-Badri, "We are unable to reach consensus to raise our production."

Leaders of the cartel indicated that they have left open the possibility of another meeting within the next several months to reconsider raising output. Analysts who cover the industry said that the indecision is the first time in their memory they’ve experienced such an event, or at least the first time that members of the cartel admitted it. Said Marc Ostwald of Monument Securities, "OPEC is on the point of break-up. A broader perspective is that the pos world order is fracturing in a spectacular fashion, be it the EU/Eurozone, the World Bank/IMF or OPEC."

Others were less bold with their pronouncements, but expressed surprise nonetheless. Said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics, "I think there were some tensions. But everyone has to do business and countries have different views on what the future of demand looks like." For motorists in the U.S. and elsewhere, the indecision wills simply spell higher prices at the gas pump, as well as higher prices for heating oil as the summer ends and gives way to cooler temperatures in the fall.