Hopes that crude oil prices would be boosted by a production freeze are now in jeopardy following a stalemate at the oil producers’ meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday.
The conference, held by OPEC and non-OPEC members, ended after a 14-hour session without agreeing on a freeze as Iran and Saudi Arabia continued to flex muscles.
TheCable understands that Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources, worked behind the scene to get the Arab countries to reach a consensus but his efforts did not yield any fruits.
Saudi Arabia is insisting that Iran, which was absent at the conference, must also agree to a production freeze before any deal can be reached.
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Iran, which just returned to the international market after the lifting of sanctions, is keen to regain its share, contrary to the wish of the Saudis that the country should join a global freeze deal.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a regional supremacy battle.
The conference, presided over by Mohammed Saleh Abdulla Al Sada, the Qatari minister of energy and industry, ended without any decision.
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Decision has now been moved to June – five months after the deal was first mooted to stabilise output at January levels until October 2016.
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