OPEC likely won't move to boost oil price amid infighting

[...] within the cartel, Iran and Iraq want to start pumping more, even though regional rival Saudi Arabia appears unwilling to play along by reducing its own output.

Senior oil official Amir Hossein Zamaninia said last week Iran hopes to bring an extra 500,000 barrels on the market by early next year.

Ahead of Friday's meeting, OPEC already was churning out well over than 31 million barrels a day and OPEC members are likely to continue producing more than their share as they push to compensate for low prices by increasing output.

Saudi opposition to a cut in OPEC output a year ago was calculated to put higher-cost outside competitors — such as U.S. shale oil producers — out of business, in the hope that would eventually lead to a drop in supply and a rebound in prices.

Noting there are at least three shooting wars within about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of about 30 percent of the world's oil production in the Middle East, he writes: "Compared to today, a couple of years ago seems like a pretty calm time."