Yemisi Izuora/Agency Report
The United Arab Emirates is hoping to see oil price attaining a more positive leap by the end of the year.
The country is also not sure it will be part of upcoming meeting of the OPEC.
“We are yet to receive an invitation to a possible meeting of oil-producing nations seeking to rein in a global supply glut, U.A.E energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said.
Three OPEC members intend to meet with other producers in non-member Russia on March 20 to renew talks on an agreement to cap oil output, according to Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s petroleum minister.
There have been few additional details on the producers’ meeting since Kachikwu, announced it on March 3.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela agreed on Feb. 16 in Doha that they would freeze production, if other producers followed suit, in an effort to tackle oversupply.
But Al Mazrouei, remarked“We need to be patient. It’s not happening in weeks or months. Correcting to a sustainable price will take time.”
He also said, “I did not receive an invitation, If they send us an invitation and there is logic, of course the U.A.E. and everyone will participate.”
The U.A.E. was OPEC’s fourth-biggest producer in February, pumping 2.98 million barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“It’s logical for everyone to freeze their production,” Al Mazrouei said. “It doesn’t make sense for anyone to increase production at the current prices.”
Markets are poised to re-balance as many oil producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lose money at current prices, Al Mazrouei told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
Declining output at fields that need higher prices to break even is “good news” that points toward a more stable market, he said.
“I’m still optimistic that at the end of the year or before the end of the year we will see some correction,” Al Mazrouei said.