OPEC Ministers to Meet Russia

The energy ministers of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), plan to meet their Russian counterpart to discuss extending oil-output cuts amid a developing consensus that they should prolong their joint effort to curb supply, Bloomberg reported.

The Saudi Minister of Energy and Industry, Khalid Al-Falih, stated that he will be talking to Russia’s Alexander Novak by phone, but both will meet early May. A person familiar with the matter noted that, after talks in Algeria, Venezuela’s Oil Minister, Nelson Martinez, also plans to visit Moscow, World Oil informed.

Late April, Saudi Arabia and a number of other Middle Eastern crude producers reached an initial agreement to continue output cuts beyond their June expiry, while Venezuela and Algeria backed an extension.

Those decisions came after almost four months of limits on production, led by OPEC and Russia, failed to achieve their target of reducing oil inventories below the five-year historical average.

Al-Falih told reporters in Baku, “There seems to be a consensus in that direction, but we’re not 100% there. We still need to talk to all countries. A very important country to talk to, of course, is Russia, the biggest non-OPEC exporter.”

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