Oil prices start the week higher after OPEC meeting

Brent and WTI oil prices open Monday’s trading session higher, with Brent back over $91 and WTI oil futures over $88 a barrel as OPEC signals no short term increase for member oil output.

No Change – OPEC

OPEC ministers decided on Saturday to keep oil output at current levels, citing ample crude oil inventories amid persisting global economic uncertainty and a price of just under $90 a barrel.

The 12 member cartel said after a meeting that it based its decision on projections showing demand for crude would grow more slowly in 2011 than this year.

Fears of European Banking Crisis

Its statement also cited the “challenging risks to the fragile global economic recovery” including “fears of a second banking crisis in Europe.”

They discussed whether oil would soon broach the psychological price barrier of $100, or even climb nearer its 2008 historic peak of $147 a barrel.

The “no change” announcement was widely anticipated and four of the cartel’s ministers from Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Nigeria did not even make the trip, sending lower level delegates instead.