Oil prices rose nearly 2% Wednesday after OPEC said it could not reach an agreement to raise oil production.
U.S. crude jumped $1.68, or 1.7%, to $100.70 a barrel. Oil prices were trading down about $1 just before the OPEC announcement. The price of brent crude – the European benchmark – rose 1.5% to $118.35 a barrel.
OPEC’s quarterly meeting was widely watched by analysts. The cartel had been under intense pressure to raise production as oil prices approached $120 a barrel last month. Prices spiked on supply-demand worries amid signs of a strengthening global economy and ongoing violence in the Middle East.
OPEC members themselves, particularly Saudi Arabia, contested the notion that the world was short on oil supplies. Wall Street speculators were more to blame for the jump in prices, they argued.
Many analysts agreed with this take. But others, including the International Energy Agency and politicians in oil importing countries, urged the cartel to increase production.
OPEC said it will need another three months to consider an increase in oil output.
