Opec plans informal talks next month

London: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will hold informal talks at a conference in Algiers next month and members constantly discuss ways to stabilise the market amid a “temporary” decline in oil prices, the group’s president said on Monday.
“Expectation of higher crude oil demand in the third and fourth quarters of 2016, coupled with decrease in availability, is leading the analysts to conclude that the current bear market is only temporary and oil price would increase during later part of 2016,” according to a statement on Opec’s website attributed to Mohammed Al Sada, the Qatari energy minister who is also the group’s president.
Oil tumbled into a bear market last week, ending a recovery that saw prices almost double from a 12-year low in February. The renewed decline keeps the pressure on many member countries that are still unable to balance their budgets. Opec ministers last met in June when they rejected a proposal to adopt a new output ceiling, sticking to a policy of unfettered production.
The recent slide in prices reflects weaker refining margins, a surplus of refined products, plus the UK’s vote to leave the European Union and its impact on the financial markets, according to the statement attributed to Al Sada.
Members of Opec always intended to discuss the oil market and potential cooperation with other producers when they gather for the International Energy Forum in Algiers next month, two delegates from the group said on Friday, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. There are no specific plans to renew the failed April agreement with non-members to freeze oil production, they said.