Qatar Wants "Fair" Oil Prices

The oil market is slowly recovering from its low depths over the past two years, but crude is still not trading at a "fair price" to encourage necessary investment, Qatar's energy and industry minister said ahead of next week's meeting of OPEC producers.

Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada told AP that a minimum price of $65 a barrel is "badly needed at the moment". He cautioned that the security of future supplies is as risk because of the price slump that has squeezed oil producers since 2014.

"The oil market is recovering slowly but steadily. Luckily, the fundamentals show it is heading in the right direction," he said.

"I don't think we are yet at a fair price. We need to have a fairer price so that we can have the ability to invest more in order to secure the energy supply to the world and avoid any price shock."

The Qatari minister did not rule out reviving talks of a freeze in production among major producers after similar negotiations collapsed in Doha last month.

Sada was also careful not to blame Iran for the collapse of the freeze plan, saying the April meeting was productive because it gave producers a chance to discuss "new market fundamentals".