Oil prices fell on Friday after sources said OPEC had agreed to roll over its policy of maintaining crude production in order to retain market share and raise its output ceiling.
Internationally traded Brent was down 91 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $42.93 at 9:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT), having fallen earlier this week to a low of $42.43, within cents of August’s 6-½ year trough.
U.S. crude was trading down $1.17, or 2.9 percent, at $39.91 per barrel.
OPEC had been widely expected to stick with its year-old policy, despite pressure from poorer members of the cartel for a cut in output to prop up the price of oil.
OPEC sources said it had agreed to raise its output ceiling to 31.5 million bpd at its meeting in Vienna, in what appeared to be an effective acknowledgement of existing production.
