Brent for May settlement climbed US$1.59, or 4.1 per cent, to US$40.33 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday. “This is most likely to be a resolution or a joint declaration setting forth intentions of the parties to freeze oil production at the level not higher than in January 2016”, Novak added. However, oil prices have been retreating from the start of this week after Iran stated it is determined to keep raising its output to pre-sanction levels before it would consider freezing production.
Advertisement
On March 3, Nigeria’s petroleum minister Emmanuel Kachikwu reported that Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Qatar will meet in Russia on March 20, 2016.
Qatar holds the rotating presidency of OPEC and will host the upcoming talks, which are scheduled to take place the capital, Doha, on April 17.
Singapore trade minister S. Iswaran told a gas conference Tuesday that crude prices are likely to remain $30-$50 per barrel this year due to oversupply, a slowing Chinese economy and Japan restarting nuclear power plants.
He made the comments following a meeting with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak here on Monday saying that the production freeze to stabilize the market will be the first step by the major producers from OPEC and non-OPEC countries.
According to the International Energy Agency, Iran exported 1.4 million barrels of oil per day in February and is expected to boost the figure by 150,000 barrels per day in March. Other major producers, including OPEC members Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, have since expressed support for the initiative.
“On the whole, Iran supports the need for co-ordination between oil exporters, including a possible freeze”. On any given day, global oil supply of about 96 million barrels outstrips demand by nearly two million barrels.
“Markets remain well supplied, with oil and demand growth remaining modest, leading us to believe oil prices will remain relatively low for some time”, said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management, who helps manage $125 billion.
Advertisement
“According to secondary sources, total OPEC crude oil production in February averaged 32.38 mb/d, – a decrease of 175 tb/d over the previous month”, the report read.
