Oil price hike averted after supply boost

HARD-pressed motorists heaved a sigh of relief last night after OPEC oil ministers moved to boost production in order to stave off another hike in fuel prices.

“This is very good news, particularly for motorists who have been beleaguered in every shape and form,” said Dermott Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland.

OPEC members agreed at an emergency meeting in Vienna to boost their oil production target by 6.5% to 24.5 million barrels a day to cover a shortfall in oil exports from Venezuela, crippled by a six-week-old political strike.