Sonatrach issued the following announcement on March 8.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its main Russian ally did not reach agreement last Friday to amplify their production cuts in order to stem the fall in crude prices affected by the epidemic of new coronavirus , said Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak.

"From April 1, taking into account today's decision, no one - neither OPEC country, nor OPEC + country - has an obligation to lower production," said Novak. to journalists after lengthy negotiations in Vienna. During these meetings, Russia refused OPEC's offer for an additional collective cut of 1.5 million barrels per day until the end of 2020.

This refusal did not prevent the Minister of Energy, Mohamed Arkab, president of the OPEC conference from asserting Friday from Vienna that the 8th ministerial meeting Opep - Non-Opep had been "very important", indicates a press release from the ministry. According to the same source, the members agreed at the end of this meeting to continue to follow developments in the oil market and the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic. They also agreed to maintain the framework for consultation and dialogue of the Declaration of Cooperation established by the agreement of December 10, 2016, in particular the Joint Ministerial Committee Opep-Non-Opep and the Joint Technical Committee, continued the same release.

Cooperation is therefore maintained and consultations will be more intense in an attempt to reconcile points of view, he said.

The Minister of Energy added that Algeria has an "important role" to play as president of OPEC. It will continue to promote concertation between all countries and to seek consensual solutions capable of ensuring the stability of the oil market. And just after the OPEC + meeting, oil prices continued to drop.

The oil price quoted in New York collapsed, after Russia's refusal to accentuate the cuts in black gold production proposed by OPEC in order to stem the fall in prices, weighed down by the coronavirus. WTI, the benchmark barrel in the United States, for delivery in April, plunged 10.1% to 41.28 dollars, a level seen more since April 2016.

A barrel of Brent North Sea crude for May delivery tumbled 9.4% to $ 45.27 in London, its lowest closing price in nearly four years. "From April 1, taking into account today's decision, no one - neither OPEC country, nor OPEC + country - has an obligation to lower production," said the Russian minister. de l'Energie, Alexandre Novak, to journalists after long negotiations in Vienna (EL MOUDJAHID)

Original source: https://sonatrach.com/actualites/m-arkab-a-propos-de-la-8eme-reunion-ministerielle-opep-non-opep-tres-importante