KRASNOYARSK (Sputnik) — The international agreement on freezing 2016 oil production at January levels will remove half of the oil oversupply on the market, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Alexey Texler said Friday.
"According to our estimates, if today oversupply amounts to some 1.8 million barrels, half of it will be eliminated should the agreement [to freeze production] be strictly executed once it enters into force," he told reporters.
On Tuesday, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Venezuela held talks on the current oil market situation in the Qatari capital of Doha and agreed to freeze average monthly oil production at January levels if other countries followed suit. The proposal was later backed by Ecuador, Algeria, Nigeria and Oman.
The following day, the oil ministers of Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Venezuela met in Tehran to discuss a reduction in oil output. Iran reportedly supported the deal but refrained from pledging to cap production.
