OPEC won't produce extra oil despite decision

OPEC’s decision to raise its output ceiling by up to 11% over two months may help soothe a nervous market, but it does not oblige the group to pump a single barrel of additional oil.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed in Beirut yesterday to hike its production ceiling by two million barrels a day next month and an additional 500,000 barrels a day in August, if necessary, in a bid to rein in uncomfortably high prices for crude.