Investing.com - Oil prices fell in North America trade on Tuesday, turning sharply lower after a meeting between oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela ended with consensus to freeze output, but not to cut production.
Qatari energy minister Mohammad bin Saleh al-Sada said his country had agreed to freeze output at January's levels, together with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela in a bid to stabilize the volatile oil market. However, traders remained skeptical as the deal is contingent on other major producers, such as Iran, following suit.
Crude oil for delivery in March on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 45 cents, or 1.53%, to trade at $28.99 a barrel by 15:10GMT, or 10:10AM ET.
Nymex prices jumped 6.4% earlier to hit an intraday peak of $31.45 on news that oil ministers from Saudi Arabia and Russia will hold talks together with their counterparts from Venezuela and Qatar, fueling speculation of a coordinated cut in crude output.
Global oil prices surged more than 12% on Friday after a report once again suggested OPEC might finally agree to cut production to reduce the world glut.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery dipped 52 cents, or 1.54%, to trade at $32.88 a barrel after rising by as much as 6% earlier to hit a daily high of $35.54.
Oil futures are down nearly 70% since the summer of 2014. Global crude production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil and after a decision by OPEC last year not to cut production in order to defend market share.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the West Texas Intermediate crude contract stood at $3.89 a barrel.