Saudi says won’t attend non-OPEC talks Monday

DUBAI:

Top OPEC oil exporter Saudi Arabia has told the producer group it will not attend talks yesterday with non-OPEC producers to discuss limiting supply, OPEC sources said, as it wants to focus on having consensus within the organization first.

The meeting was planned to discuss the contribution that producers outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will make to a proposed supplylimiting agreement. OPEC oil ministers meet on Wednesday to finalize the deal.

“There is an official letter from (Saudi Arabia) saying (it is) not attending the meeting because the ministers should agree to the cut and then present the agreement to non-OPEC countries,” an OPEC source said. “This will be more effective.” The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is trying to finalize a September agreement that would reduce production to between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels per day.

It aims to remove a supply glut and prop up oil prices , which at just over $48 a barrel are less than half their level of mid-2014. The organization also wants non-OPEC producers such as Russia to curb output. Despite extensive diplomacy since September, the OPEC side of the deal still faces setbacks from Iraq’s call for it to be exempt and from Iran, which wants to increase supply because its output has been hit by sanctions. — Reuters