Report: OPEC cancels meeting with non-OPEC states

MOSCOW/VIENNA/BAKU/ALGERIA, Nov 28 (PRIME) -- OPEC has cancelled Monday’s meeting with representatives for non-OPEC states because Saudi Arabia had refused to take part in it before the cartel agrees on production volumes within the organization, Bloomberg reported late on November 25 citing sources familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg also reported that some OPEC members will meet on Monday, while ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran will come to Vienna only on Tuesday to have some time for negotiations prior to a formal meeting on Wednesday.

OPEC agreed to limit daily oil output at 32.5–33.0 million barrels at an informal meeting in Algeria in September. The ceilings for each country are supposed to be defined at the meeting in Vienna. President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Russia is ready to join OPEC in a freeze of oil production if an agreement is reached.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters that Russia shares the position that on non-OPEC countries should only join the market stabilization agreement after OPEC agrees within itself. “Russia is still positive toward the agreement and continues consultations with its partners,” he said.

But a diplomatic source told PRIME that Russian experts will not visit Vienna on Monday and participate in talks of OPEC and non-OPEC states.

Zamina Aliyeva, press secretary of the Azeri Energy Ministry, told PRIME that Minister Natig Aliyev cancelled his Monday visit to Vienna.

But a representative of the Algerian Energy Ministry told PRIME that energy ministers of Algeria and Venezuela Noureddine Bouterfa and Eulogio Del Pino will visit Moscow on Monday to meet with Novak to discuss formalizing the September oil price freeze agreement.

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