OPEC agrees to maintain oil output ceiling: Iran

OPEC has agreed to maintain its oil production ceiling at 30 million barrels per day, Iran's oil minister said today.
"Thirty million barrels per day is the approved total output for OPEC for 2014," Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told journalists in Vienna.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries also failed to decide on a new secretary-general, agreeing instead to keep Libya's Abdullah El-Badri as its administrative head.
"We extend the mandate of Mr El-Badri for one year," Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said after the meeting of OPEC's 12 members.
The decision to maintain the oil ceiling had been widely expected by markets.

The organisation, which produces about one third of the world's crude, could see higher production from its members Iran, Iraq and Libya in the coming months but faces competition from non-OPEC producers of cheaper shale oil.