Opec invites Russia to meeting

ISTANBUL: Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said on Wednesday it was inviting Russia and other key non-members to a meeting later this month as the oil cartel and Moscow seek to tighten cooperation to boost historically low crude prices.

The announcement came after a meeting in Istanbul between several top Opec energy ministers with their Russian counterpart Alexander Novak aimed at advancing joint efforts to bolster oil prices whose lows have hurt the highly-dependent economies of crude producers.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, which on Monday saw a vow by Russian President Vladimir Putin for Moscow to impose curbs on energy output to match Opec cuts that caused a spurt in oil prices.

“We agreed to have a technical meeting of Opec ... on 28-29 of this month. An invitation is going to be sent to some key non-Opec countries,” Qatar Energy Minister Mohammed Saleh al-Sada said after the talks.

“This meeting is meant to give a better understanding of the best way of how to move towards the rebalancing of the market to the interest of all,” added the Qatari minister.

Other than Russia, he did not elaborate on what other non-Opec countries were being invited to the meeting but indicated he wanted a wide turnout.

“We have a list of non-Opec countries and we are yet to refine it further. We intend to expand it get the feelings of as many non-Opec countries as possible.”

He gave no indication, however, the meeting would be attended by the US, the world’s number three oil producer.

“The US attending is something we cannot assure you of,” he said. – AFP