Crude oil output from OPEC’s 12 members edged further above the organization’s 30mn b/d output target in December despite oil prices continuing to plummet and cash-strapped members Venezuela and Algeria calling for action to halt the squeeze on their revenue.

OPEC December output was 30.36mn b/d, up 60,000 b/d from a downwardly revised 30.30mn b/d in November, according to MEES estimates. December represented the sixth straight month that OPEC output held above the group’s collective 30mn b/d production target, despite sharply declining oil prices, and forecasts for markedly weaker demand for its crude in the first half of 2015. (CONTINUED - 1010 WORDS)