Oil-producing nations will discuss an oil output freeze at OPEC’s meeting in June, a senior Saudi oil advisor said on Thursday, keeping open the prospect of action to boost prices despite the collapse of talks on a deal in Doha.
The deal, in the making since February, had helped oil prices to rise from a 12-year low reached in January. But it fell apart on Sunday in Doha after Saudi Arabia insisted Iran took part, raising fears in OPEC of a renewed price drop.
“Even though there was no agreement, the door for future cooperation remains open, and there sure will be further discussion at the next OPEC meeting in June,” Ibrahim al-Muhanna told an oil conference in Paris.
OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri, speaking at the same conference, said some ministers may bring up the production freeze issue in June, but that it was not on the OPEC secretariat’s agenda. The OPEC meeting is on June 2.
