Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 4
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
Six members of the OPEC have agreed to hold an urgent meeting, Shana news agency reported Feb. 4.
After a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Venezuela's oil minister Eulogio del Pino said that Russia also support an urgent meeting between OPEC members to cut production level to push the prices up.
Venezuela's oil minister has started a round of trips to major oil producers to convince them to decrease production level in order to raise the prices.
He met with his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak on Monday and after Iran, Eulogio del Pino will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global oil production reached 96.31 mbpd, while demand was 94.47 mbpd in 2015.
Huge amount of oil glut has pushed the prices down, from $108 in the first half of 2014 to the current $35.
Eulogio del Pino said that Iran, Oman and Iraq are among OPEC members who have willingness to hold OPEC's urgent meeting.
He also called on the other non-OPEC producers on cutting the oil output and supporting prices.
It is not clear whether Saudi Arabia and Qatar who are strongly against losing their shares in oil markets would agree to cut their production or not, but the possibility is high, is case major non-OPEC members cut their production level.
Before, Shana reported that Iran is against holding OPEC's urgent meeting until the members and non-OPEC oil producers reach an agreement to decline production.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says the country would increase the oil production level by 0.5 mb/d in 1H16 and the same amount in 2H16.
Shana says it seems the global oil production should decrease by 1.5 mb/d to eliminate the glut in near future and support the prices.
Alexander Novak, Russian energy minister, said Jan. 28 that the planned OPEC meeting in February with representatives of other oil-producing countries could discuss reduction of oil production by each producer country by five percent, but a general agreement is needed for that.
"Approximately these parameters were voiced - to cut the production for each country by five percent," Novak told reporters responding to a question about whether Saudi Arabia offered Russia to cut production by five percent.
The latest OPEC monthly report, released Jan. 18, indicates that the cartel has decreased oil production by 210,000 barrels per day in December, month-to-month to 32.182 mbpd.
In 2016, the demand for OPEC crude is forecasted at 31.6 mbpd, some 1.7 mbpd higher than the previous year.
OPEC will hold an ordinary meeting June 2.