More than a dozen oil-producing countries inside and outside the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) had officially confirmed that they would attend the meeting in Doha – although major producer Iran said it would not participate as it could not accept proposals to freeze its production.
Advertisement
After the deal ran into trouble, oil ministers in Doha met with the Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani who was instrumental in promoting output stability in recent months.
The revised draft agreement requires the participation of all the OPEC countries and does not contain any binding points from the original draft.
“We concluded we all need time to consult further”, Qatar’s energy minister Mohammed al-Sada told reporters.
The talks were then delayed as Saudi Arabia Sunday morning “changed everything”, according to one OPEC source, with the Kingdom saying it wanted all OPEC members to take part.
When asked to specify which countries pushed for Iran to be included in the deal other than Saudi Arabia, Novak mentioned Qatar, UAE, and “predominantly other Gulf States”.
A drop in prices after the failure to reach a deal may be tempered as oil production in Kuwait fell by 60 percent after oil workers went on strike Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has insisted that all major producers must be on board for the freeze to work, including fellow OPEC member and regional rival Iran.
The world’s biggest crude exporter would cap its market share at about 10.3 million to 10.4 million barrels a day, if producers agree to the freeze, Prince Mohammed bin Salman said during an interview Thursday at King Salman’s private farm in Diriyah.
U.S. crude futures were down 5.5 per cent at US$38.16 a barrel.
However, the agency said any production freeze possibly agreed by leading oil producers would only have a “limited” impact on supplies.
In early Asian trading today, prices have tumbled. After that, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will be able to invite other producers to join. “Without a deal, the likelihood of markets balancing are now pushed back to mid-2017”.
The draft provides for the creation of a “high level monitoring committee” of two oil ministers from OPEC countries and two from non-OPEC countries; they would be assisted by a working group of experts. Indeed, the entire oil complex has been producing oil at maximum levels in a desperate effort to hold on to market share.
Producers must now also grapple with the looming question of demand.
The meeting in Doha is only relevant if no deal is reached, prompting a sharp sell-off in the markets, said Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc. “This week, Saudi Arabia’s long-serving oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, also downplayed speculation over Sunday’s meeting. over the coming months”, Apostolos Bantis, a credit analyst at Commerzbank, told Al Jazeera.
Advertisement
Now, much of those gains could be eroded in a market that has already endured a turbulent year, analysts say.
