Arab nations blame US for oil price fall

 Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has blamed the US  for the drop in oil prices
 Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has blamed the US  for the drop in oil prices
REUTERS/CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS

Oil prices have collapsed because of the actions of the United States and other non-Opec countries, not because the oil cartel decided against cutting output, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said.

In a thinly veiled attack on the US and other producers not in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Ali al-Naimi blamed the near halving in the oil price since July on “the lack of co-operation from other producers outside Opec”.

Speaking at a conference of Opec ministers in Abu Dhabi, he reaffirmed the cartel’s plans to keep production at current levels of 30 million barrels per day. Oil prices have fallen from $114 per barrel in June to $61, as it became clear that the market was oversupplied owing to US shale production