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July 5, 2008 6:50:48 AM CDT

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OPEC Holds Oil Production Steady

Posted Feb 1, 08 1:00 PM CST in Business,  World    Most Covered

(Newser) – OPEC dashed American hopes for a boost in oil production today, Bloomberg reports. The US and other Western nations wanted more oil on the market to lower prices, but OPEC decided to hold production steady. The consortium, which supplies 40% of the world's oil, is worried that the flagging world economy will reduce demand.

Demand for oil tends to fall in the second quarter, and a glum economy might drive it down even more, the Wall Street Journal notes. Iran is leading the charge to make a corresponding cut in supply, but doing so would imply that OPEC is defending the current historically high price levels. OPEC’s president said a drop was unlikely “because psychologically it's not possible.”

Sources Bloomberg, Wikipedia

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President of the OPEC conference and Minister of Energy and Mines Chakib Khelil from Algeria speaks at a news conference after a meeting of ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,...   (Associated Press)
Acting Minister of Oil from Kuwait Mohammed Abdullah Al-Aleem talks to journalists after a meeting of ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, at their headquarters in Vienna,...   (Associated Press)
An unidentified western female journalist, right, listens to Saudi Arabian Oil Minister, Ali Naimi, during a press conference, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008, at a hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia...   (Associated Press)
Iran's oil Minister, Gholamhussein Nozari, talks to the journalists at the 146th OPEC Conference, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. The OPEC oil ministers' meeting in Abu Dhabi...   (Associated Press)
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