Abu Dhabi: An agreement to finally put a cap on oil production was delayed on Sunday in Doha after Saudi Arabia insisted that all Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) members join the deal.
That includes Iran, which is not even attending the conference. Iran has been trying to ramp up production to regain the market share it lost due to sanctions over its nuclear problem.
The Doha conference is the first time in 15 years that oil producing countries from Opec and non-Opec group are meeting to chalk out a strategy to stablise prices, that have plunged by more than 60 per cent since 2014 due to over production and weak demand. The original deal would have frozen production at January levels.
The talks were delayed for several hours due to Saudi’s insistence on language in the agreement that focused on Iran. Saudi Arabia insisted that Iran join the deal and change the wording of the agreement to address its stance on the Islamic Republic.
With the deal in trouble, oil ministers met with Qatari Emir Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, who was instrumental in promoting output stability in recent months.
A reworked draft communique said producers in and outside Opec should agree to freeze oil production at “an agreeable level” as long as all Opec countries and major exporting nations participated.
As of 8pm Dubai time, ministers in Doha had been in discussion over the final version on the agreement for three hours with do indications of when an agreement might be reached.
