Vienna (dpa) – An alliance of important oil exporters broke off negotiations to expand production from August without result. The Opec cartel and its partner countries did not set a date for a new meeting, as the German press agency learned from the Opec + environment.
The Saudis-dominated oil cartel Opec and its Russian-led cooperation partners had been discussing plans since Thursday to gradually increase their daily production by 400,000 barrels a month from August. The joint step of the so-called Opec + should help to supply the recovering global economy.
However, the United Arab Emirates had demanded the allocation of a higher production quota, while Saudi Arabia did not want to grant the neighboring Gulf state any special rights. Most of the 23 OPEC + countries shy away from even greater easing in view of the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
This is where the United Arab Emirates clashed. The Ministry of Energy in Abu Dhabi criticized at the weekend that other participants in the oil alliance want to expand production cautiously from August, but at the same time want to continue their restrictive subsidy policy until the end of 2022. The Emirates are only willing to extend this policy if their quota is increased, it said.
Dispute between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia not only increased the pressure on the Emirates as part of Opec +. A Saudi decree revealed on Monday that the country wanted to change its import regulations from other Gulf Cooperation Council countries. In the future, the kingdom no longer wants to import some goods from free trade zones or from Israel at preferential tariffs. The new rule is likely to hit the Emirates in particular, which recently signed a trade agreement with Israel.
At the beginning of the corona pandemic, Opec + cut daily production by around 9.7 million barrels in the previous year. This succeeded in supporting oil prices, which were under pressure due to the stagnation in the transport sector and in many branches of industry. In the meantime the oil taps were gradually turned on. “That was a fantastic achievement in the past 14 months, and it would be a shame if we didn’t keep it up,” said Saudi Energy Minister Abdulasis bin Salman. “A little common sense and a little compromise can save Opec +,” he told Al-Arabija.
The oil prices rose significantly after the talks, which had failed for the time being, became known. A barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost $ 76.83 in the late afternoon. That was 64 cents more than on Friday. The price of a barrel of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 69 cents to $ 75.86.