OPEC Extends Pact 6 Months

OPEC ministers agreed today to extend their existing oil output pact for six months, but failed to woo dissident member Iraq into joining them and took no further steps to limit production or boost prices.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Arturo Hernandez Grisanti, disclosing the agreement to reporters at the 13-nation cartel’s regular midyear meeting, said: “We think the market will have a good perception of what we have done.”