Consensus Within OPEC Necessary for Oil Exporters to Coordinate Output

An internal consensus within OPEC will serve as a key to the cartel's output deal with other oil-producing countries, the Russian energy minister said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia is ready to discuss coordination of oil output with other states, but an internal consensus within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is needed for the bloc's deal with oil producers that are not part of the cartel to take place, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.

"Russia is ready to join and discuss coordination of oil exporting countries, but, first and foremost, such a consensus should be reached within the OPEC countries. As you know, April talks in Doha did not result in a final agreement, because there was no common position in OPEC," Novak told Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

Novak added that on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF) in Algeria he held a meeting with new Secretary General of OPEC Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, met with energy ministers from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

On September 26-28, representatives of 73 member states of the IEF are meeting in Algiers to discuss oil-related issues. The informal meeting of 12 OPEC member states and possibly non-OPEC oil producers, like Russia, is expected to take place on September 28 on the sidelines of the IEF and set out plans to reverse the drop in global oil prices amid ongoing overproduction.

In April, major oil-producing states failed to reach an output-freezing agreement in Doha, Qatar. Saudi Arabia, which had previously said that it would freeze output only if Iran followed suit, cited Tehran’s absence from the talks as the reason for not supporting an output freeze.