Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 5
By Emil Ilgar – Trend:
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser met in Doha with Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and discussed the oil market and other related issues, OPEC's official website reported Sep. 5.
The meeting was also attended by Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Qatar’s minister of energy and industry and current OPEC conference president.
The Qatari prime minister expressed confidence that Barkindo would work closely with OPEC member countries to overcome the current challenges in the interest of all oil producers and consumers.
“The Doha initiative in February and April this year has provided both OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers with a platform upon which a credible framework can be further developed to restore oil market stability,” Barkindo said.
Qatar invited OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers for a meeting that was held in Doha in April this year to discuss oil market developments.
OPEC members will meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF), which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria on Sept. 26-28.
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has earlier confirmed that he will take part in the upcoming meeting, aimed at a "common action" to support the global oil prices.
Iran’s oil output stood at 3.9 million barrels per day (mbpd) before sanctions brought it down to 2.8 mbpd. The output now stands at 3.7 mbpd.
Saudi Arabia and some other countries used Iran’s partial absence from the market under sanctions to export beyond their OPEC quotas, with a result that the OPEC output for July stood at 33.44 mbpd while the official ceiling is 30.45 mbpd.
OPEC’s secretary general is expected to hold on Sept. 5 a tripartite meeting with Al-Sada and Noureddine Boutarfa, Algeria’s minister of energy, who is also currently visiting Qatar, OPEC's website reported.
Boutarfa was in Tehran on Sunday.
Barkindo was scheduled to later travel from Doha to Tehran to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the report said.