Qatar Informs Russia 17 States Participating in Oil Producing Talks in Doha

Russia has received preliminary information from Qatar that 17 countries will be participating in a meeting in Doha dedicated to oil producing states to discuss freezing the extraction of oil, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday.

YEREVAN (Sputnik) – The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members and non-OPEC oil producers are expected to discuss freezing oil output to curb oversupplies on Sunday in the Qatari capital of Doha.

"Only Qatar knows the final number since they are the organizers and are providing for the preparations and the entire collection of information. We have received preliminary information from them that around 17 countries have expressed their readiness to arrive in Doha," Novak told journalists.

According to the minister, the Russian delegation is optimistic about the outcomes of the meeting and expects that the participants will manage to agree on maintaining oil production at the level of January 2016 until the end of the year.

"All these agreements are of open nature, so those who want to join such proposal will do that. We see that most of the exporters support this approach," Novak said.

In February, the energy ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, and Russia discussed the current oil market situation in Doha and agreed to freeze oil production at January levels if other countries followed suit, in a bid to keep the oil prices from falling further.

Oil prices saw major declines from $115 per barrel in mid-2014 to $41.54 per barrel for WTI Crude and $44.24 per barrel for Brent as of early Wednesday.