Opec members may call an extraordinary meeting to discuss oil prices if they reach consensus at an informal gathering in Algiers this month, Opec secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo said during a visit to Algeria, the country’s state news agency APS reported yesterday. Barkindo said he was optimistic about the meeting in Algeria on September 26-28.
He has previously said discussions in Algiers will be consultations and no major decisions will be made during talks with Opec and non-OPEC producers. “The informal gathering was proposed as a move to having an extraordinary meeting with the aim of taking decisions to stabilise the market,” Barkindo said.
Algeria’s Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa last week said there was a consensus among Opec and non-Opec members about the need to stabilise the oil market, and has been pushing for a price around $50 to $60 a barrel.
“Algeria has a proposal for participants in the Algiers meeting. Consultations with our partners show there is a consensus around the need to stabilise the market. That is already a positive,” Barkindo said.
The secretary-general of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has said the group is not seeking a definite price range for oil but stability for the market. Russia, Iran and other major oil producers are due to take part in the Algiers meeting.
Several Opec producers have called for an output freeze to rein in an oil glut that triggered a price collapse in the last two years, hitting the revenues of major producers.
Saudi Arabia and non-Opec member Russia agreed this month to cooperate in oil markets, saying they could limit future output.
Separately, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran supports any move to stabilise the global oil market and lift prices, the Iranian oil ministry news agency SHANA quoted him as saying yesterday.
“Instability and falling oil prices are harmful to all countries, especially oil producers,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by SHANA.
“Tehran welcomes any move aimed at market stability and improvement of oil prices based on justice, fairness and fair quota of all the oil producers,” the president said, referring to the meeting between Opec and non-Opec producers in Algeria next week, SHANA said.
Rouhani was speaking to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Venezuela on Saturday, SHANA reported.
Iran, Opec’s third-largest producer, has been boosting its oil output after the lifting of Western sanctions in January. Tehran refused to join a previous attempt this year by Opec and non-members such as Russia to stabilise production, and talks collapsed in April.