What happened to the OPEC meeting last week?

Today we tell you more about the effects of falling oil prices. Lower demand for oil and too much supply have sent prices to their lowest levels in five years.
   Last week, OPEC decided to keep production at current levels. Representatives of the 12-nation group met in Vienna, Austria. They were unable to reach agreement on changing OPEC’s production targets.
   Lower oil prices are causing economic hardship in some OPEC members. The president of Venezuela announced last week that he and other government officials should take pay cuts as part of budget reductions. The Reuters news service says the reductions are meant to answer the lower oil prices. It says Venezuela gets 96 percent of its export earnings from oil sales. The nation has among the highest inflation rates in Latin America.
   Russia is a major oil exporter, but does not belong to OPEC. Oil exports are important to
   Russia. The value of Russian money has lost about 40 percent of its value this year compared to the American dollar. Observers have blamed the drop on falling profits from oil exports, and Western sanctions to punish Russian actions in Ukraine.
   But economists say the fall in oil prices is helping economies in Asia. Andrew Colquhoun is with Hong Kong-based Fitch Ratings.
   He said that "Most Asia-Pacific economies are oil importers and therefore the decline in oil prices is equivalent to a kind of income gain for them. "
   In a recent report, Fitch Ratings said China and most major Asian economies would effectively earn more money from sustained lower oil prices. Thailand spends 15 percent of national income on oil, the largest percentage in the area.
   Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia all are moving to reduce oil price supports, or subsidies, which are often a major part in government spending.
   But some experts say it is a matter of time before prices recover. Jack Gerard is president of the American Petroleum Institute. He says demand for oil will rise, and prices will find an equilibrium.