Oil prices fell this morning as investors continued to react to OPEC's decision to maintain its current production levels.
By lunchtime, US crude had fallen 11 cents to $47.24 a barrel, while Brent North Sea dropped 16 cents to $46.30.
At a meeting in Vienna on Sunday, OPEC decided to leave members' production quotas unchanged. Some analysts had speculated that they would once again cut output to shore up prices that have tumbled from record peaks above $147 a barrel last July.
The cartel said it wanted to concentrate on compliance with reductions in output quotas decided in the final months of 2008, which represent a cut since September of a combined 4.2 million barrels per day.
