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Saudi Arabia optimistic about oil market

September 3, 2016 at 3:24 pm

The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia said on Thursday that his country is optimistic about changes in oil production to be agreed with other oil producers, agencies have reported. Adel Al-Jubeir made his comments in Tokyo. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producers, he said, are moving towards a common position regarding production levels.

“I think there is a move towards a common position, towards a common effort,” he explained, “and if other producers were to agree, then it is reasonable to expect Saudi Arabia to go along with it.”

OPEC members are meeting informally in Algeria on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF) on 26-28 September. They are expected to seek to revive a global production freeze agreement.

“If you want to have an impact then all of us have to shoulder the responsibility,” the Saudi minister pointed out. “I believe that over the past five or six months there has been an increasing realisation that this is a collective effort.”

According to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, his government would support any decision to freeze oil output in order to improve prices. Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia. Its oil minister, however, suggested that Iraq wants to increase output.

Iran, meanwhile, has sent positive signals regarding support for a common effort to improve the oil market. Tehran had refused to support a production freeze at the previous OPEC meeting that took place in Doha in April; it wanted to regain its share of the market following the lifting of sanctions.