Oil prices plummet after OPEC meeting OPEC will ride out weak prices Gulf oil producers led by Saudi Arabia have won the case for keeping OPEC output unchanged, overriding calls from some members of the exporters' group for action to halt a slide in crude prices. Vienna: Crude prices plunged on Thursday after the powerful Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it wouldn't cut production levels to stem the collapse in oil prices that have fallen more than 30 per cent since June. Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi delivered the news as he left a nearly five-hour meeting of the cartel's 12 oil ministers in Vienna. Benchmark crude oil prices plummeted afterthe meeting, with Brent crude sinking 3.5 per cent to US$75.05 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate falling 3.4 per cent to US$71.21. In June, prices were as high as US$115 a barrel. Frustrated: Venezuela's Energy Minister, Rafael Ramirez, reportedly stormed out of the meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Oil prices are at their lowest levels since September 2010, in part due to oversupply, lower demand and a boom in North American production. Weaker oil prices affect the revenues - and relative power - of a number of oil-producing countries such as Russia and Venezuela. Thursday's collapse - which comes amid an apparent split within OPEC about whether to trim output - could lead to further price cuts at the pump, where US consumers now pay an average $US2.80 a gallon ($3.84 for 3.75 litres or $1 a litre) - down about US49¢ a gallon from year-ago levels. Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, said without a substantial cut to mollify selling pressure, crude prices are likely to continue falling. "There is simply too much crude, given likely demand patterns, if the cartel doesn't cut back," Mr Kloza said. But Abdalla Salem el-Badri, OPEC's Libyan-born secretary general, brushed aside concerns on Thursday about too much oil on the market leading to declining prices. He said OPEC was looking for a fair price and does not target a maximum or minimum price. "We are not tying to send signals to anybody," Mr el-Badri said, in a reference to the geopolitical considerations of the price fall. We should not rush or panic, we have to wait for the market to settle. The decline in prices that we have seen does not reflect fundamentals. OPEC recommitted to a production target of 30 million barrels a day. "It was anti-climactic and expected," said Jamie Webster, an energy analyst at IHS, a consultancy. The concern I have next is that [OPEC] is just not going to go below 30 million barrels, ever. If that's the case we could be in for a really wild ride over the next few months. I am very surprised that they didn't have any discussion about having another meeting before June next year. Mr Webster said that the communique issued on Thursday by OPEC was the exact same one they issued a year ago when oil prices were US$25 higher. OPEC countries account for 40 per cent of global oil production. The group has exceeded its output target of 30 million barrels a day by about 600,000 barrels a day for the past six months. Ahead of the meeting, Mr al-Naimi said he expected oil markets to "eventually stabilise," lowering expectations that the group would take decisive action this week. However, some of OPEC's poorer members, such as Venezuela and Nigeria, were thought to be aggressively pushing for a cut because they need higher oil prices to sustain their economies. "Everybody has to make some sacrifices," Venezuela's Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez. In a sign of growing tensions within the cartel, Mr Ramirez appeared to angrily storm out from the meeting after the decision.