Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

VIENNA — Crude prices plunged Thursday after the powerful Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it wouldn't cut production levels to stem the collapse in oil prices that have fallen 40% since June.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali Al-Naimi delivered the news as he left a nearly five-hour meeting of the cartel's 12 oil ministers here.

Benchmark crude oil prices plummeted in London following the meeting, with Brent crude sinking 6.2% to $69.11 a barrel. In June, prices were as high as $115 a barrel. Oil prices are at their lowest levels since September 2010, in part due to oversupply, lower demand and a boom in North American production.

Thursday's collapse — which comes amid an apparent split within OPEC about whether to trim output — could lead to further price cuts at the pump, where U.S. consumers now pay an average $2.80 a gallon — down about 49 cents a gallon from year-ago levels.

Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the Oil Price Information Service, said without a substantial cut to mollify selling pressure, crude prices are likely to continue falling.

"There is simply too much crude, given likely demand patterns, if the cartel doesn't cut back,'' Kloza said.

But Abdalla Salem el-Badri, OPEC's Libyan-born secretary general, brushed aside concerns Thursday about too much oil on the market leading to declining prices. He said OPEC was looking for a fair price and does not target a maximum or minimum price.

"We are not tying to send signals to anybody," el-Badri said. "We should not rush or panic, we have to wait for the market to settle. The decline in prices that we have seen does not reflect fundamentals."

OPEC re-committed to a production target of 30 million barrels a day.

"It was anti-climatic and expected," said Jamie Webster, an energy analyst at IHS, a consultancy. "The concern I have next is that (OPEC) is just not going to go below 30 million barrels, ever. If that's the case we could be in for a really wild ride over the next few months. I am very surprised that they didn't have any discussion about having another meeting before June next year."

Webster said that the communique issued Thursday by OPEC was the exact same one they issued a year ago when oil prices were $25 higher.

OPEC countries account for 40% of global oil production. The group has exceeded its output target of 30 million barrels a day by about 600,000 barrels a day for the past six months.

Ahead of the meeting, al-Naimi said he expected oil markets to "eventually stabilize," lowering expectations that the group would take decisive action this week.

However, some of OPEC's poorer members, such as Venezuela and Nigeria, were thought to be aggressively pushing for a cut because they need higher oil prices to sustain their economies.

"Everybody has to make some sacrifices," said Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez. In a sign of growing tensions within the cartel, Ramirez appeared to angrily storm out from the meeting after the decision.

Earlier, Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, said: "The fair price for all OPEC members is different. We hope that OPEC will arrive at a price that is acceptable for all OPEC countries to allow them to continue producing and to help support their economies." The comments from Iran are especially notable because due to ongoing economic sanctions over its nuclear program, Iran's ability to sell its oil on world markets is highly restricted.

Opening the one-day summit, Abdourhman Ataher Al-Ahirish, Libya's vice prime minister for corporations, said: "It is important to recognize that if the recent price trend continues, the long-term sustainability of capacity expansion plans and investment projects may be put at risk."

He said that global oil demand would grow by around 1.1 millions barrels a day in 2015 to hit 92.3 million barrels a day. The next OPEC meeting is schedule for June 2015.

Contributing: Gary Strauss