OPEC considering emergency action on oil prices

On Tuesday, Nigeria’s oil minister said a “couple” of OPEC member countries had requested such a meeting, after oil prices sank to a near-12-year low close to $30 a barrel.

The Nigerian minister did not specify which OPEC members wanting a meeting and said any such gathering would be in February or March. He added that OPEC’s strategy is “working”. There is no sign that the United States shale oil producers have started to cut production in face of the plunging prices.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and foremost oil producer, has been ravaged by collapsing oil prices in recent years because crude accounts for 90 percent of the nation’s export earnings and 70 percent of overall government revenue.

The likelihood of a meeting taking place will hinge on the attitude of OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which has been at the vanguard of resistance to a production cut. “I don’t think we are going to restrict anyone”, Mazroui said.

The OPEC Conference, at its 168th ordinary meeting, decided that its next ordinary meeting will convene on Thursday, June 2, 2016 in Vienna, Austria.

Prices plummeted 10 percent last week on fears about the global supply glut and weakness in China, the world’s biggest energy user.

The rise in the greenback, which makes dollar-priced oil more expensive for holders of weaker currencies, has dented prices as well.

“We need to… see how we can balance the need to protect our market share with the need for the survival of the business itself, and survival of the countries”.

Mazroui added that while the first half of 2016 would be “tough” for the oil market, there would be a gradual recovery later in the year, aided by an expected drop in non-OPEC production.

Tensions between the two OPEC rivals escalated in early January following the Saudi execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric.

“I think ultimately for the interest of everybody some policy change will happen”, Kachikwu said.