The International Energy Association has criticised the outcome of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in Vienna yesterday.

OPEC decided not to boost the amount of oil its members produce, despite the President of the Conference, Iran’s Acting oil Minister Mohammad Aliabadi noting in his opening address that “it has been a nervous six months for the oil market” because of political developments in the Middle East and North Africa and the triple disaster in Japan.

However, IEA issued a statement that expressed “disappointment that OPEC members today were unable to agree on the need to make more oil available to the market.”

If oil supply isn’t increased, “a further tightening in the market and potential increases in prices risk undermining economic recovery”, claimed the energy institution.