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LONDON: ��������Ƶ will not act alone to steady oil markets, Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters in Abuja yesterday ahead of what will be a key week for the global oil market.
However the market was kept guessing by separate comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin who said that crude around $60 a barrel was “absolutely fine.”
Oil traded down to below $60 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by rising US stocks and questions over whether OPEC will agree on out put cuts. The group is due to meet next week.
The outcome of next week’s OPEC meeting “remains clouded by uncertainty,” Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM told Bloomberg. “Elsewhere, a glut of stored oil in the US shows no sign of waning.”
OPEC plus Russia and other allies are due to meet on Dec. 6-7. where they will discuss a supply curb of 1 million to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) and possibly more, OPEC delegates have told Reuters.
The oil price is also set to be discussed at a gathering of G-20 nations in Argentina this weekend.
“OPEC needs to cut if it wants the market to be a little less oversupplied in the first half of 2019,” said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.
��������Ƶ is confident that OPEC and its allies can reach a deal to stabilize the market when they meet next week.
Regional oil exporters are keen to end the intense price volatility that has characterised the market volatility which has seen the price of crude fall by about 30 percent since early October.
“We are going to do whatever is necessary, but only if we act together as a group of 25,” Al-Falih told reporters.
Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu echoed the comments of his Saudi counterpart.
“Everybody is longing for reaching a decision that brings stability back to the market,” he said.