It’s down to the water in Doha where some of the world’s biggest crude producers are close to an agreement to freeze oil production in an effort to bolster prices. In what would be the first global oil deal in 15 years, energy officials in Doha on Sunday agreed to freeze output at January levels until October 2016 when ministers would meet again in Russia to assess the success of their efforts.
More than a dozen oil-producing countries inside and outside OPEC, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Iraq, have officially confirmed they would attend the meeting in Doha. – Iran, despite some hints to the contrary over the last few days, has said it would not participate in the deal as it could not accept proposals to freeze its production.
Final Agreement Imminent
Final agreement has not been reached on the draft, but several senior sources in national oil ministries said they believed a deal could be achieved. “I am optimistic,” Anas Khalid al-Saleh, acting Kuwaiti oil minister, said on Saturday.
According to the official draft, the implementation and monitoring of these agreements would be “under the principles of good faith,” with the implementation of a monitoring committee consisting of two oil ministers from Opec nations and two from non-Opec countries.
Producer nations inside and outside Opec look to the plan as the solution to stem nearly two years of falling prices signaling their concern about prices that fell to 2003 lows earlier this year amid an oil glut.
Oil analysts, however, are skeptical of the impact of any freeze on oil market balances. Most countries were still producing at record levels in January, while Iran and Libya have vowed to increase their output.