Top oil producers yesterday delayed an agreement to freeze the crude output levels to shore up low prices, saying they needed “more time for further consultations”.
The decision followed marathon talks in Doha from which Opec member Iran stayed away.
HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada said at a press conference that participants in the meeting had agreed on the need for more time for discussion.
“The general conclusion was that we need more time to consult among ourselves in Opec and non-Opec producers,” he said
The minister added that Opec members would meet in Vienna in June to consider a possible freeze.
 “The freeze could be more effective definitely if major producers, be it from Opec members like Iran and others, as well as non-Opec members, are included in the freeze,” he said.
Eighteen Opec member countries and major producers from outside the group met in Doha yesterday to discuss a possible freeze in oil production at January’s levels.
But the meeting started several hours behind schedule due to what the Qatari news television Al Jazeera called “divergence in views”.
Sources said that Saudi Arabia demanded that any cap deal must be binding to all producers.
Tehran has said it had no plans to sign the plan on freezing oil output.
Iran, which according to Opec data currently produces between 2.8mn and 3.5mn barrels a day, is hoping a boost in production will help it recover from the impact of international sanctions lifted after last year’s deal on its nuclear programme.
Failure to clinch the freeze deal can weaken prospects for recovery of oil prices that have fallen by up to 70% since their peak in mid-2014, some observers say.
However, al-Sada said that the oil market was improving.
Yesterday’s meeting in Doha follows a February agreement by Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to push for the freeze in a bid to shore up the prices of crude oil, which earlier this year fell to their lowest levels since 2004.
Qatar, which holds the rotating presidency of Opec, had invited oil producers both inside and outside the Opec group to take part, saying that the time had come “to restore balance to the market and health to the global economy”.
Although the low oil price has been a boon for many importing nations, it is causing economic and budgetary problems for exporting countries.
From above $100 in mid-2014, oil prices dropped to 13-year lows of around $27 in February due to a supply glut, though they have since rebounded to about $40.
Iran had initially said its Opec representative would participate in the Doha talks but yesterday Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh announced Tehran would send no delegation at all.
Russia’s oil minister Alexander Novak yesterday said the country was not closing the door on a global deal to freeze output levels although he was disappointed that no decision had been taken.
Novak said he had travelled to Doha, expecting all sides to sign the deal instead of debating it. When asked whether Russia would freeze output levels, he said the government was not meant to regulate the output of private producers.
Opec said its members pumped 32.25mn bpd in March, up from an average of 31.85mn bpd in 2015.