OPEC leaves oil output ceiling unchanged

OPEC decided to leave its oil output ceiling unchanged, Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Youcef Yousfi said Thursday after a key meeting in Vienna. The 12-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps one third of the world's oil, decided "to keep" its actual output ceiling at 30 million barrels per day (bpd) that was agreed in December, Yousfi said. "It was a good meeting," UAE Energy Minister Mohammad bin Dhaen al-Hamli told journalists as he left the meeting at OPEC headquarters in Vienna. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi added that he was "happy" without elaborating. More details are expected at a press conference with OPEC secretary-general Abdullah El-Badri and Iraqi Oil Minister Abdulkarim al-Luaybi. At Thursday's meeting, ministers grappled with plunging crude prices, the eurozone debt crisis and the weak global economy.