Minister: Oil freeze meeting may take place on March 20–April 1

MOSCOW, Mar 4 (PRIME) -- A meeting of oil producing states, including OPEC and non-OPEC countries, may take place from March 20 until April 1 either in a Russia city, or in Doha or Vienna, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview to Rossiya 24 TV channel on Friday.

“The particular date has not been scheduled yet, there are proposals to hold it from March 20 until April 1,” Novak said. “From our part, we are ready to host our colleagues.”

Earlier President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro told newswire AVN that OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries will discuss an oil output freeze at the January 2016 level at least until June.

Venezuelan Oil and Mining Minister Eulogio del Pino said that 15 oil producing countries will meet to discuss freezing of production soon. Bloomberg reported citing the oil ministry of Nigeria that the meeting was slated for March 20.

In February, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak agreed to freeze oil output with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela. Some other countries joined the initiative, while the U.S. and Iran refused to participate.

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