OPEC agrees to maintain oil production

Ministers of the oil-producing organisation, OPEC, have ratified an agreement to maintain current oil production levels at the end of a meeting in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

There had been calls for a further increase in production to ease pressure on fuel prices which remain three times what they stood at two years ago.

But the BBC economics correspondent says OPEC, which has already increased production four times this year, believes it is now meeting demand - and is concerned over a possible crude oil glut after the winter in the northern hemisphere.

Analysts say there's a significant possibility of a sharp fall in prices, which OPEC desperately wants to avoid. The cartel will consider the production issue again in January: our correspondent says meeting again so soon illustrates the sensitivity of the oil market.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service