Saudi Arabia\u2019s oil minister is meeting with his Russian counterpart in Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the market amid a push for cooperation between OPEC and other major producers to tackle a global surplus.<\/p>\n
Ali al-Naimi, the most senior oil official of the world\u2019s biggest crude exporter, is speaking with Russia\u2019s Alexander Novakin Doha, a Qatar Energy Ministry adviser said Tuesday. There will be a press briefing at the St. Regis hotel after the talks, which hadn\u2019t been disclosed until Monday.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia has insisted that it won\u2019t reduce production to boost prices from a 12-year low unless major producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cooperate. While Novak has said he could consider cuts if other countries joined in, Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of the country\u2019s largest oil company Rosneft OJSC, last week\u00a0expressed doubts over coordinated action. A tour of oil capitals from Moscow to Riyadh earlier this month by Venezuelan Energy Minister Eulogio Del Pino failed to produce an accord.<\/p>\n
Still, oil\u2019s deepening slide this year to below $30 a barrel has put increased financial strain on export-dependent economies. There\u2019s growing speculation that\u00a0the world\u2019s two largest crude producers will discuss cooperation on output reductions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe back channel talks, which Qatar is brokering, had been in place for a while,\u201d said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. \u201cThese are still very early days and nothing concrete has been agreed, but there is a growing sense that countries could be more flexible, although Riyadh would insist that everyone else contribute to the cut.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brent oil in London rose as much as $2, or 6 percent, to $35.39 a barrel on Tuesday and was trading at $35.22 at 7:43 a.m. in London.<\/p>\n
OPEC and non-members have intermittently held discussions since November 2014, when the organization first signaled it was unwilling to cut production alone to support prices. Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia and Mexico assembled in Vienna that month without reaching any deal.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the slightest signs of an accord have roiled oil markets. West Texas Intermediate futures rallied 12 percent on Feb. 12, the biggest surge since 2009, after the United Arab Emirates reiterated OPEC\u2019s long-held position that the group is prepared to engage with non-members.<\/p>\n
Doha\u2019s closed-door meeting, planned in secret and hosted by Qatar\u2019s oil minister, echoes the petro-diplomacy of the late 1990s. Then OPEC countries used diplomatic back channels with the help of Mexico to orchestrate a series of secret meetings from Miami to Amsterdam, which resulted in several production cuts.<\/p>\n
Venezuela\u2019s Information Ministry and the media offices at PDVSA and Venezuela\u2019s Oil Ministry didn\u2019t immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saudi Arabia\u2019s oil minister is meeting with his Russian counterpart in Qatar on Tuesday to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n