In Oil & Companies News 29/02/2016
In spite of recent disagreements between cartel members, Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, told CNBC that OPEC will be able to come together in an agreement to freeze oil production as a way to combat low oil prices.
“The Minister for energy in Qatar and the President of OPEC is leading that pact and there is a lot of conversation going on and there’s a lot of consensus building on the issue of the freeze,” Kachikwu said in an exclusive interview with CNBC’s “Fast Money”.
“Saudi Arabia and Russia are aligned on the issue of a freeze, so I think the chances are very high,” Kachikwu added.
Speculation over OPEC’s intentions has been running at a fever pitch, and whipsawed the price of crude. To date, Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, has voiced strong resistance when it comes to a production cut, but has indicated an openness to a freeze.
“Freeze is the beginning of a process, and that means if we can get all the major producers to agree not to add additional balance, then this high inventory we have now will probably decline in due time. It’s going to take time,” Naimi said at the annual IHS CERAWeek energy conference in Houston this past week.
“It is not like cutting production. That is not going to happen because not many countries are going to deliver even if they say they will cut production — they will not deliver. So there is no sense in wasting our time seeking production cuts,” he added.
On Friday, Brent crude closed above $35, off nearly 10 percent year to date but well under multi-year lows under $28.
Kachikwu believes movements towards a freeze represent a big step in the right direction, and told CNBC he remains confident in his plan to work with OPEC members.
“The Saudi’s are quite frankly in the forefront of pushing the freeze issue,” explained Kachikwu. A potential freeze among OPEC members has made him bullish when it comes to oil prices in 2016. Kachikwu expects crude prices to take a major jump by the end of the year.
“I am certainly hoping for prices in the range of 45 to 50,” the minister said.
“I’m hoping a consensus can be built and that parties can begin to work together across the board, not just OPEC members, but also non-OPEC members,which is what the gulf states and most of us have pushed for,” he said. With that, “you’ll begin to see movement upwards in those prices.”
U.S. crude ended the week up 10.59 percent for its best week since August 28, 2015 when it gained 11.79 percent. Brent ended the week up 6.33 percent.
Source: CNBC
