UAE is still in talks with Saudi Arabia over OPEC+ deal

Oil prices extended losses as EIA showed decline in US stockpiles

The UAE is still in discussions with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members for better terms under the current agreement that will expire in April 2022, a source privy to the discussions told Arab News.

Reuters earlier reported that the UAE has reached a compromise to assign the Gulf nation a quota of 3.65 million barrels a day, under the new deal that should be extended till the end of 2022, a proposal that the source said is still on the table as nothing has been finalized yet.

The UAE Energy Ministry later issued a statement on the official news agency WAM saying that its deliberations with OPEC+ regarding its position on an extension of the supply deal are still underway. “Deliberations between the concerned parties are still going on and that an agreement has not been reached yet,” it added.

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday after Reuters reported Saudi Arabia and the UAE had reached a compromise that should unlock an OPEC+ deal to boost global oil supplies as the world recovers from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Brent crude was down 32 cents, or 0.42 percent, at $76.17 a barrel by 1430 GMT, after dropping by over $1 earlier. West Texas Intermediate was off by 41 cents, or 0.54 percent, at $74.84 a barrel.

Oil prices, however, pared losses as weekly data from the US Energy Information Administration showed that US stocks fell by more than expected.

Deliberations between the concerned parties are still going on and that an agreement had not been reached yet.

UAE Energy Ministry