Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, sees some flexibility for a deal between the exporter group and rival producers to tackle a supply glut that has pushed prices to a 12-year low, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said on Tuesday.
His comments, made in Kuwait, briefly boosted world oil prices further above $30 a barrel, although such an idea has been repeatedly mooted and dismissed for over a year.
“We can see some flexibility,” Mahdi said. “This should be finalised and we should hear some solid suggestions coming from all parts, from OPEC and non-OPEC, at least from OPEC.”
A day earlier, senior officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia stepped up vague talk of possible joint action to fix the supply glut.
OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said other producers should work together with the group to tackle swollen global stockpiles so prices can recover, essentially reiterating OPEC’s
position that it would only consider cutting output if others pitch in.
Moscow, seen as key to any potential agreement, has so far refused to cooperate. But Leonid Fedun, vice-president of Lukoil LKOH.MM, Russia’s second largest oil producer, was quoted as saying on Monday Moscow needed to start working with OPEC.
OPEC is considering a request from cash-strapped member Venezuela to hold an emergency meeting to discuss steps to prop up prices, and Venezuela has also called for a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC in February.
Iraq’s Madhi and Kuwaiti acting Oil Minister Anas al-Saleh said they were willing to back an emergency meeting of OPEC, but only if an agenda were agreed in advance.
“It is useless to go to a meeting without deciding up front. We said yes if others are willing to go but we have to decide before otherwise this will backfire on us. We have to go forward
OPEC’s Gulf members, led by Saudi Arabia, insist that OPEC will not cut production by itself to boost prices, as this would give up market share to rival producers, and expect the market to balance itself over time.
“I do believe that OPEC’s strategy is going as planned and we believe that it is so far working well,” Kuwait’s acting minister told reporters.