Oil Price back below $40 a barrel as OPEC decides against cutting output #oilandgas GDP Nigeria Saudi Arabia

Oil futures slumped Friday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, reportedly boosted its production ceiling to 31.5 million barrels a day.
Reuters, citing unidentified OPEC sources, reported that the cartel agreed to raise the production ceiling from 30 million barrels a day. The new ceiling would largely be an acknowledgment of current production levels. OPEC was due to hold a news conference to formally announce the outcome of the meeting later Thursday.
In the runup to the meeting, there was speculation the cartel would at least debate a production cut, though officials and analysts had largely played down talk of a move.

Brent crude LCOF6, -1.25% the global oil benchmark, fell 90 cents, s or 2.1%, to $42.94 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures CLF6, -2.31% dropped $1.15, or 2.8%, to $39.91 a barrel.
Oil prices were lifted on Thursday by news that Saudi Arabia would propose a production cut if non-OPEC members, such as Russia, also adhere to the cut.
But on Friday, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi said “it is baseless that there is a Saudi coordinated proposal to cut output.” The country is willing to cooperate with anyone prepared to balance the market, he said, and offered to talk to any minister who wanted to meet.

Most market participants had expected OPEC to stick to its ceiling of 30 million barrels a day. That number, though, is largely symbolic as the organization has been overshooting it for months. In September, OPEC produced 31.57 million barrels a day, according to its own data.
In the past, OPEC—which pumps about four out of 10 barrels of oil consumed each day around the globe—has throttled back on output to support prices. But in a break from that strategy, OPEC has held production steady since last year in a bid to defend—and extend—its share of the oil market.
The key issue for OPEC is Iran, which is expected to return to the global oil market after the lifting of the international sanctions early next year. Analysts say the country could quickly ramp up production by around 500,000 barrels, adding to the oversupply of crude.