Russian economic development minister expects no decisions from OPEC summit in Vienna

STUTTGART, November 26. /TASS/. Russia’s Economic Development Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev said on Wednesday he expected no concrete decisions from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) summit in Vienna. “OPEC countries are divided, so nothing can be expected from the meeting,” he said. OPEC members will hold a meeting in Vienna on November 27 to consider the issue of oil production quotas. The world oil price over the past six months has declined by nearly 30 percent. The market players suppose that if OPEC countries fail to agree on measures to considerably reduce oil production the oil price may drop to $60 a barrel. The OPEC member states last time reduced oil production quotas in 2008 when the oil price fell from $140 to $32 a barrel. Some cartel members such as Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Venezuela and Ecuador are for the quota reduction as soon as possible, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait are against, while the stance of the most influential OPEC member Saudi Arabia is still unclear. As for Russia, it has not changed it stance over the recent months. In late November, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the government was considering options for cutting oil production volume to support the price. The minister added that no decision had been made yet. According to some unconfirmed data, Russia is ready to offer OPEC member countries to cut the production level by 15 million tonnes annually. Crude oil that accounts for a major share of Russia’s exports has fallen in price by 27 percent in 2014 due to the decline in demand and appearance of new production fields. Read more