Wall Street stumbled today after oil prices spiked to a new record above 129 a barrel and a government report raised investors’ concerns about the impact of inflation on consumer spending. The Dow Jones industrials fell nearly 200 points.

Volatility in the global oil market is unlikely to affect oil-producing countries’ plans to invest billions of dollars to boost capacity, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said today.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister today said there is no need for further production cuts by Opec and called the situation in the global crude market "very healthy".

Oil-producing nations are expected to dismiss a call by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for a production cut as he hosts an Opec meeting.

Chairman of OPEC, Abdallah bin Hamad al-Attiya has defended his call for Iraq to attend the oil producer cartel's next meeting in Vienna on September 24.

Opec ministers holding a crucial summit today in Qatar voted to keep production levels unchanged because of delays in the resumption of Iraqi oil exports.

OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez held talks on Russia's oil export quotas in Moscow on Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported.