Opec agrees to increase production

With the price of oil stuck above $40 (€32.36) a barrel, Opec agreed today to raise its daily production target by 500,000 barrels, or 2%, in an effort to keep crude prices from lurching even higher.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries would made the increase automatically, by mutual agreement, and cancelled a formal meeting it had planned for its members on July 21 at its headquarters in Vienna, said an official for the group in Vienna. The increase will take effect August 1.