OPEC’s El-Badri wants all producers to help curb glut

Speaking in London, 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 longstanding position that it would only consider cutting output if others pitch in.

Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdulmahdi said at a conference in Kuwait that Baghdad was “ready to cooperate” on cutting production to raise oil prices, but only if non-OPEC producers did so as well.

Crude oil prices steadied near USD30 a barrel Tuesday morning on reports that OPEC may finally curb production to alleviate the global supply glut.

Abhishek Deshpande, lead oil analyst at Natixis, told City A.M.: “A decrease in Russian production without cutbacks in the U.S. is meaningless”.

The price drop has started to slow the development of relatively expensive supply sources such as US shale oil and forced companies to delay or cancel billions of dollars worth of projects, putting some future supplies at risk.

While Iran’s daily production has not yet been determined, Iran’s production “is returning” says Neil Atkinson, IEA’s head of oil industry and markets division, who told CNBC in January that “the market is going to have to find some way of absorbing those barrels”.

Crude fell back below $30 a barrel in Asia on Tuesday as worries about the global supply glut returned to the fore, following a two-day rebound.

Following the crash of oil price from an average of $114 a barrel in 2014 to less than $30 a barrel presently, Nigeria’s economy, as well as those of many other oil-dependent countries, has had an economic depreciation.

“As you can see from previous cycles, once this overhang starts falling then prices start to rise”.

A deal between Russian Federation and Opec to reduce output was dismissed by experts.

Qatar said oil could turn into a bull market before the end of 2016 as investments in the industry were dropping too fast and more companies were poised to go bankrupt while global demand continued to grow.

However, Iran disagreed with the premise of an emergency meeting as the country’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, stated that the organisation now has little intention of making a drastic change.

As markets enter their fourth trading week of 2016, the havoc wreaked by oil prices are still being felt across a whole range of assets and markets, with European stocks coming under renewed pressure Monday after Iraq announced its oil output had reached a record high in December .

“The oversupply will keep markets depressed and prices low”.

Venezuela has repeatedly called for Opec to meet as slumping prices sap government revenue.

Mr el Badri said it was crucial that all major producers sit down to come up with a solution to the slump – which last week saw Brent crude fall to below $28, its lowest level since November 2003.