NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices extended much losses on Thursday, as OPEC wrapped up a much-anticipated meeting with no decision on the level of potential output cut.
The Saudi-led oil cartel and its allies held a meeting at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria on Thursday to wrestle with the falling oil prices, amid broad market expectations that it would reach a oil reduction deal.
OPEC has reportedly agreed to cut output, but no specifics were disclosed on how much oil it plans to pull back from the market. The 15-member group is set to hold talks with its allies including Russia on Friday.
Adding to the negative impact, the United States posted on Thursday a dramatic rise in crude exports to more than 3.2 million barrels per day last week, according to a weekly report of the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The export level exceeded the import level, making the world's top oil producer a net exporter for the first time in 75 years. Although U.S. crude inventories decreased to 443.2 million barrels in the week to Nov. 30, the amount was still about 6 percent above the five-year average, said the report.
The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery fell 1.4 U.S. dollars to settle at 51.49 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery fell 1.5 dollars to close at 60.06 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
