OPEC members agree to freeze output

Algiers, Sep 29 The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached an agreement to freeze oil output after an meeting held here on Wednesday.

The Head of OPEC Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada said at a press conference after the meeting, during which the cartel's members agreed to cap its oil output between 32.5 and 33 million barrels a day, Xinhua news agency reported.

The OPEC official dubbed the meeting of Algiers "historical", thanking Algeria for offering such an opportunity to gather and decide on a crucial issue related to oil market.

Al-Sada noted that after a six-hour meeting, the 14 members agreed to reduce oil output, adding that a committee has been set up to consider the output share of each member nation.

A report should be drawn up by the committee, and then filed to the next OPEC meeting due in Vienna in November, the head of OPEC specified.

The official further indicated that the committee is also meant to coordinate a collective agreement between the cartel's members in a bid to accelerate the process of re-balancing the oil market "by sharing the burden of adjusting the output between both OPEC and non-OPEC producers".

IANS