Russian minister sees no high volatility after Doha oil talks

MOSCOW, Apr 18 (PRIME) -- The global oil market is unlikely to be very volatile after negotiations in Doha, because fundamental factors continue to drive oil prices, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview to NTV TV channel on Monday.

“Nevertheless, fundamental factors, which influence prices and mood of the market, started to play a role in the past few months. We see that the U.S. oil production is falling: output has decreased to below 9 million barrels daily recently, and it is likely to fall further this year. We see that the number of drilling rigs is almost five times lower than in 2014,” Novak said.

Oil exporters failed to agree on freezing oil output at the level of January at a meeting in Doha on April 17. Oil producing countries may discuss this issue again at an OPEC meeting in June in Vienna. If the agreement is reached, non-OPEC countries may also join it.

“In my point of view, the fact that no agreements were reached and the market expected the countries to agree, may put under pressure prices and the market,” Novak also said.

“We always want to be in touch with our colleagues, with ministers of other countries. If the OPEC states agree to keep supply flat, not to increase it in order to rebalance the market, we can always join it. this is our opinion,” Novak said.

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