VIENNA, Dec 12: Opec began negotiations on Monday on a new production deal aimed at healing the rift caused by a bad-tempered failure to agree an output target when it last met in June.

At stake for the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at its Wednesday meeting is a credible output policy heading into a year when sluggish global economy could undermine fuel demand and bring down oil prices that now are over $107 a barrel.

“I think they have to agree this time because they need to be credible,” said former Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil ahead of the meeting of the 12-member cartel that pumps more than half the world’s oil exports.

Without a collective supply target, Opec members with spare capacity Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies will remain free to pump at will.

Leading producer Saudi Arabia made clear its intention to keep oil prices under control, saying last week it was producing a surprisingly high 10 million barrels daily of crude, much more than estimated by most in the oil industry.

That pleased consumer nations worried about the impact of oil prices on global growth.—Reuters