TOP oil exporter Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC producers signalled on Saturday that they would keep oil output near its current 25-year high for now, satisfied the policy is easing pressure on consumer economies.

Iran’s oil minister said today that OPEC would make any decision on adjusting oil supplies in a collective manner, comments that could allay fears his country would use the meeting as a stump speech over its nuclear ambitions.

Under pressure to lower stubbornly high oil prices, Opec ministers were gathering in Austria today to try to lower crude costs and ease the brakes on the global economy.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi has said that he backs an increase in OPEC’s production ceiling but questioned whether demand justified adding actual oil to the market.

Opec members have split on whether their output should be increased in a bid to boost global supply that might cause oil prices to drop.

Norway’s Oil and Energy Minister Thorhild Widvey said the nation may consider opening more of its Arctic waters for increased drilling and exploration, countering a slump in its North Sea oil reserves.

OPEC agreed today to raise its production ceiling by two million barrels-a-day next month in a bid to bring down uncomfortably high prices of crude oil.