But the OPEC summit wasn’t without a bit of drama. Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia speaks to journalists prior to the start of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, June 2, 2016.
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However, OPEC members failed to agree on that idea.
Aramco and subsidiaries own or have an equity interest in over 5 million barrels per day of refining capacity.
Oil prices fell 1.5% to $48.25 a barrel following the OPEC summit.
First, OPEC chose to name Nigeria’s Mohammed Barkindo the group’s new secretary general.
Following the meeting, the organization announced the appointment of its new head, who will replace acting OPEC Secretary-General Badri.
The Conference considered Gabon’s request to rejoin the Organization, and made a decision to approve its admission with effect from 1st July 2016. The West African country will be OPEC’s smallest member.
This target was, in any case, widely flouted, with total production by the 13-nation group around 32 million bpd.
The market expectations had been set so low for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting yesterday in the Austrian capital that the positive view appears to be more common in the post-conference assessments.
“Oil prices are still hovering near the US$50 mark, and whether it will convincingly break above this level depends on how the OPEC meeting turns out”, he said in a note to investors. That decline was offset by a 330,000 barrels per day increase in OPEC output, largely because of a jump in Iranian production.
The ministerial gathering comes amid a recovery in the price of oil. “The big question is how much more upside can we potentially see”. “Supply and demand are working and this is the essence of this policy”, United Arab Emirates’ energy minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazrouei said on May 31.
It was clear, though, that the market was looking for at least an attempt by OPEC to show unified muscle.
But recently, amid tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, they have been fighting it out to gain market share, boosting supply at a time of weak demand and driving down oil prices. Just like after the failed Doha “freeze” summit in April, Iran wasn’t on board with any output limits.
The failure to reach an accord underscores the increasingly disparate interests within OPEC.
“This should have been an easy meeting to re-establish OPEC relevance but they missed the opportunity”, he said.
“Don’t take that notion that OPEC is dead”.
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Iran is supportive of such a trend adopted by the OPEC, the minister said.
