– Nigeria’s oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachiwku has said that OPEC members are shifting towards solving the global oil crisis.
– He said there is a consensus among members that action needs to be taking sooner rather than later.
– Pressure exerted by Saudi Arabia is believe to have forced the change in attitude.
The mood inside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is shifting from mistrust to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to end the global oil price rout, according to oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachiwku.
Oil prices have slumped by more than 70% to near $30 a barrel over the past 18 months as OPEC, led by top producer Saudi Arabia, sought to drive higher-cost producers out of the market by refusing to cut production despite a supply glut.
The price crash has crippled some economies that depend heavily on oil sales for income, such as Nigeria and Venezuela, and even Saudi Arabia is shoring up its resources to withstand the painful revenue drop.
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachiwku
“There’s increased conversation going on. I think when we met in December … they (OPEC members) were hardly talking to one another. Everyone was protecting their own positional logic,” Kachiwku said.
“Now I think you have cross-logic … they are looking at what are the deficiencies, what is the optimum.”
Struggling oil producers have made repeated calls for an emergency OPEC meeting, but Kachikwu said that the timing had not been right, adding the next meeting will be held in June.