Opec fails to reach agreement on oil production levels.

There’s little chance the OPEC cartel and nonmember Russia could reach a deal that would result in lower oil production, despite market intrigue and a jump in crude prices as a result of talks of a possible agreement.

Iran is playing down any expectations of an arrangement among oil- exporting nations meeting in Algeria this week to limit production and boost energy prices.
The remarks Tuesday by Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh sent oil costs dropping further. The U.S. contract for crude oil was down 95 cents, or around 2 percent, at $44.98 a barrel, having traded roughly flat earlier in the day.

Analysts said Iran would have to be on board in order for OPEC to be willing to strike any deal, but an unnamed Iranian official quoted by the Dow Jones news agency on Friday signaled the country would not participate.

Talking in Algiers, Zanganeh said a casual OPEC gathering due Wednesday is “just a consultation meeting … If there is a decision, it should be taken at the next (OPEC) meeting in Vienna in November.
Despite shrinking hopes for a deal on freezing output levels, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal urged participants to overcome their differences to reach a “balanced price.”