Chris Woodyard

USA TODAY

What some thought might be an easy path to boost -- or least help to stabilize -- world oil prices fell apart Sunday when a summit in Doha, Qatar involving oil-producing nations ended without an agreement to freeze oil production.

Talks to freeze oil production at January levels stalled, with participants saying they needed more time to work on any deal.

Attendees at the high-profile gathering including Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members and non-members. Yet, a major oil producer -- Iran -- skipped out. The country, which is trying to gain market share after economic sanctions over its nuclear policies were lifted, didn't send a representative. That non-participation helped to thwart any potential deal, reported Bloomberg, Reuters and other media outlets.

Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Iranian state television that the nation didn't want to sent an emissary to the Doha meeting because “we can’t cooperate with them to freeze our own output."

To do so would "impose sanctions on ourselves," he said.

Heading into the Doha meetings, speculation was on what would happen between Mideast rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. “To get a coordinated cut, you have to get cooperation between the Saudis and Iran,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service.

An production agreement was considered a good bet to raise prices slightly in the short run.

After seeing prices plummet, other major producers, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, had shown a willingness to impose limits.

A lack of a deal is surely to be viewed “as a disappointment to the market," said Kloza.

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On Friday the benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.14 to $40.36, in New York Brent crude, which is the benchmark in Europe, fell 74 cents to $43.10 a barrel in London.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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