The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is approaching today the conclusion of agreements in favor of its trade strategies which will allow for stability in the crude oil markets.
The ongoing meeting in this Vienna seeks to increase oil production, while easing the opposition of Iran and Saudi Arabia in this regard. The aim of these debates is to stabilise prices, which are currently around 70 dollars a barrel.
An increase in production of nearly one million barrels per day (bpd), or one per cent of the world supply, appears to be a consensus for the group and its allies. Sources close to OPEC have even estimated that Iran could accept this quota under certain circumstances under discussion.
OPEC is on Friday meeting to decide production policy amid calls from major consumers such as the United States, China and India, to cool oil prices and support the world economy by producing more crude oil. Russia, not in OPEC, proposed to the group to increase production by 1.5, 000,000 bpd.
Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the world needed at least one million additional bpd to avoid a shortage in the second half of 2018. Since last year, OPEC and its allies have been involved in an agreement to reduce production by 1.8 million bpd. This measure helps to rebalance the market in the recent 18 months, and raised the price of Brent oil to around 73 dollars per barrel from just 27 in 2016. NAN
