Russia deems OPEC action unlikely
Russia 
SOCHI, May 20, 2016 – Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak on Friday all but ruled out a co-ordinated effort on the part of OPEC to stabilise oil prices at its upcoming meeting. Speaking in Sochi, he said that disagreement among member countries would make OPEC action difficult to realise in the short term.
“[…] We see quite big disagreements inside OPEC on the further development of the situation and on what should – or opposite, should not be done – for the market to reach a balance,” Novak said. His comments are in stark contrast to those made by the director general for oil and gas at Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Wiratmaja Puja, who on Thursday said he was “very hopeful” that OPEC members would be able to reach an agreement on capping production, vowing that Indonesia would “support an idea of [an] oil freeze to stabilise oil prices.”
OPEC’s next meeting, an ordinary session planned for June 2 in Vienna, Austria, will be the first with new Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih, who took over from long-time minister Ali Al Naimi earlier this month, in attendance.
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