Kachikwu retains hope in OPEC’s failed oil freeze

‎Ibe Kachikwu, minister of petroleum resources, has expressed hope that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will achieve consensus on crude oil production freeze.

Hopes that crude oil prices would be boosted by a production freeze were jeopardized on Sunday, following a stalemate at the oil producers’ meeting in Doha, Qatar.

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.

Kachikwu worked behind the scene to get the Arab countries to reach a consensus but his efforts did not yield any fruits.

On Monday, a statement signed on his behalf by Garba Deen Muhammad, spokesman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said that despite Sunday’s stalemate, OPEC would chart a way forward.

He urged OPEC to ensure that it achieves a workable consensus on the issue by bringing everybody on the negotiating table.

“We are just going to work at it. It is a supply and demand issue and we need to consult and bring everybody into the circle,” the statement quoted Kachikwu as saying.

“Thank God that a committee is now in place to try and work towards getting everybody on board.”

The minister noted that once every member country of OPEC is brought on board, it would become easier to convince other major oil producers to sign-up to the freeze policy.

The policy, he said, was designed to remedy lingering decline in the price of crude oil in the international market.

It is expected that the consensus issue being canvassed by Kachikwu will be pursued vigorously at the next OPEC ministerial meeting slated for June in Vienna, Austria.