Oil prices slipped this evening after OPEC agreed to roll over its production targets and ahead of data expected to show a fall in crude stockpiles in the US.
OPEC oil ministers, content with oil prices, agreed to leave output unchanged and meet again on March 17.
The organisation pumps about 50% of the world's oil exports and has seen crude prices almost double since the start of the year after it sliced output when recession hit fuel demand. The deal leaves the implied target for OPEC output, excluding Iraq, at 24.84 million barrels per day (bpd).
But oil traders and analysts are worried that OPEC members are not sticking to their production targets and that output is rising steadily.
US crude was down 37 cents to $73.35 a barrel, while Brent fell 51 cents to $72.48, slipping below US crude for the first time in a month.
