OPEC Push for Deal Sends Algeria, Venezuela Ministers to Moscow

OPEC is embarking on a last-ditch diplomatic push to reach an agreement for an oil production cut, with the oil ministers of Algeria and Venezuela heading to Russia to get the group’s biggest rival on board.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet on Nov. 30 in Vienna to finalize the terms of its first production cut in eight years. OPEC’s three biggest producers, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, remain divided about how to allocate the planned output reduction. Russia has so far resisted OPEC’s request that it joins the cut.

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In an unexpected move, Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa, one of the architects of OPEC’s September accord to reduce output, and Venezuela’s Eulogio Del Pino, a regular intermediary in the group’s discussions, will meet in Algiers and then travel to Moscow tomorrow, according to two delegates familiar with the matter. They asked not to be identified as the talks are private.

OPEC is also proposing a 600,000 barrel a day output cut by non-OPEC producers. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has repeatedly said his country prefers to freeze rather than reduce output.

Internal Differences

While efforts to secure the cooperation of non-members continue, OPEC nations are still trying to agree among themselves how much each should cut. The organization, which had planned to hold technical discussions with non-members on Monday, will instead hold an internal meeting to resolve the differences.

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Algeria’s Boutarfa presented Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh with a proposal for a collective cut of 1.1 million barrels a day in Tehran on Saturday. The country had previously said it should be allowed to continue increasing production as its exports recovered from three years of nuclear-related sanctions.

Boutarfa will also meet with Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi once they are in Vienna on Nov. 29, the day before OPEC ministers are scheduled to finalize the agreement, according to one of the delegates. Iraq has said it will participate in output curbs, having initially resisted joining in, yet it’s not clear by how much it’s prepared to cut production.