Opec Maintains Production Ceiling

OPEC ministers decided Wednesday that they would maintain their production ceiling for the first half of next year, despite concerns that some countries are pumping more oil than allowed.

Analysts warned after the ministers’ seven-hour meeting that prices could drop if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries doesn’t crack down on the cheaters and some members don’t stop exceeding the quotas.

OPEC has a daily production ceiling of 24.52 million barrels, but members are exceeding this by about 900,000 barrels a day.

The price OPEC gets for its oil has long been about $4 to $5 below the group’s target of $21 a barrel.

While analysts had predicted that OPEC would roll over that quota, many charged Wednesday that cheating will dampen oil prices next year as increasing amounts of non-OPEC oil are brought on-line.