OPEC president and Qatar’s minister of energy and industry Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada said he did not rule out the possibility that the negotiations on placing a ceiling on crude production could be resumed, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, May 24. He warned that the global market urgently needs at least $65 a barrel, which would make a fairer price, according to the head of the 13-nation oil-producing cartel.
OPEC’s chief explained that the recent slump in commodity prices has led to falling investment, thus posing a threat to a steady future flow of supplies.
At the same time, Al-Sada pointed out that prices in the commodity market are gradually rising. “The oil market is recovering slowly but steadily. Luckily, the fundamentals show it is heading in the right direction,” the official said.
The next round of talks between OPEC members and non-OPEC oil exporters is scheduled for June 2. At the previous meeting in Doha on April 17, the sides failed to reach an oil output freeze agreement. Iran decided not to send its representatives to the Doha meeting. As Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said in a statement, the country does not intend to sign the production freeze plan, so its “participation in the meeting is not obligatory.”
At 20:30 GMT, Brent was trading at $48.9 per barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The North American WTI crude benchmark climbed by 1.5% to settle at $48.79 per barrel.
