OPEC Freeze Deal Still Possible This Week, Algerian Oil Minister Says
ALGIERS—OPEC could still agree to freeze output at a meeting this week in Algeria and will at least reach an understanding on the framework of an output deal, the country’s oil minister said Sunday.
Algerian optimism comes after the cartel’s chief warned last week that a decision shouldn’t be expected at the informal gathering Wednesday in the Algerian capital of Algiers, on the side of a global energy summit. It later emerged Iran and Saudi Arabia were still at odds on what baseline should be used to agree on an output cap.
Speaking to reporters here, Nourredine Bouterfa, Algeria’s energy minister who is also in charge of oil, said “there will be an agreement in Algiers or the elements of an agreement. We can’t come out empty-handed.”
Mr. Bouterfa said the consultative meeting could be turned into a formal summit of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, with options to be discussed including a production freeze with a reference point that would imply an immediate reduction that could last six months or a year.
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