OPEC WAITS FOR RUSSIA TO DECIDE ON OIL CUT
Saudi minister says the group will ‘seriously’ consider Modi’s views
Opec tentatively agreed an oil output cut on Thursday but was waiting for a commitment from non-Opec heavyweight Russia before deciding the exact volumes for a production reduction aimed at propping up crude prices, two sources from the group said.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak flew home from Vienna earlier for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Novak returns to Austria’s capital for discussions among Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and the group’s allies on Friday.
The price of crude has fallen almost a third since October but US President Donald Trump has demanded the Opec make oil even cheaper by refraining from output cuts.
“We still want Russia to cut as much as possible,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters as the Opec meeting concluded without yielding concrete figures. “I’m not confident but I hope to reach a deal.”
Possible output cuts by Opec and its allies range from 0.5-1.5 million bpd. A reduction of 1 million bpd would be acceptable and so far was the main scenario, Falih said.
He further said: “We take the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who (like US President Donald Trump) is equally vocal about the issue. We just met him in Buenos Aires and privately he made those points very very strongly that he does care for Indian consumers and is very serious about it. I have also seen him at three times at various energy events in India where he was very vocal."