Opec-Russia roadshow heads to Vienna for key oil cut talks

Dubai: Opec’s effort to secure cooperation of non-members in a global deal to curb crude output will roll on from Istanbul to Vienna, with Russia on board but growing internal differences over sharing the burden of cuts.
Russia is ready to participate in a “technical exchange” to set a road map for oil production levels in the Austrian capital on October 29, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Wednesday. Talks in Istanbul were positive and cooperation between members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other producers is now well established, said Qatar’s Energy Minister Mohammed Al Sada.
"It takes more than OPEC to stabilise the market -- there is a realisation that other big players need to do their jobs" including US shale producers, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei said in an interview with Bloomberg television. "If we all collectively agree that there is an oversupply then we need to collectively participate in fixing this. We are sending an open invitation to everyone."
Opec achieved its main task in Istanbul, as Russia’s two largest oil producers said they would comply with any government instructions to curb oil output, following president Vladimir Putin’s backing on Monday for a supply deal. That leaves the success or failure of an accord involving producers of half the world’s oil in the hands of an Opec committee, which will meet later this month to resolve disputes over how much Venezuela and Iraq should pump.
Russian commitment
“We are confident of Russia’s commitments,” Opec secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo said in an interview with Bloomberg television before the meeting in Istanbul on Wednesday. Although it’s still too early to assign countries individual output targets, “momentum is on our side” and Barkindo said he’s “very optimistic” that non-members will join a deal to reduce output.
The scale of the internal obstacles Opec must resolve was revealed on Wednesday as the group’s latest output estimates showed a half-million-barrel difference of opinion over how much two key members are pumping. Venezuela and Iraq’s own figures on how much crude they produced in September were significantly higher than estimates compiled by Opec from so-called secondary sources. The two nations are disputing the data, which could determine the production target for each country when caps on members’ output are decided in November.
Ministers from some of the largest oil-producing nations gathered in Turkey this week to discuss ways to end a two-year supply glut. With benchmark Brent crude trading at about $52 a barrel -- less than half its price in mid-2014 -- producers remain under severe economic pressure. After Opec’s surprise reversal of its policy of pumping without constraints in Algiers last month, the group was seeking cooperation from other nations, in particular Russia.