OPEC Split Prevents Deal With Other Producers to Curb Supply

OPEC’s internal disagreements over how to implement oil-supply cuts agreed last month have prevented a deal to secure the cooperation of other major suppliers.

More than 18 hours of talks over two days in Vienna yielded little more than a promise that the world’s largest oil producers would keep on talking.

Discussions will continue in late November, just days before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is supposed to finalize the accord that lifted oil prices to one-year highs, Bloomberg reported.

"Non-OPEC nations ended talks with the group on Saturday without making any supply commitments," Brazil’s Oil and Gas Secretary Marcio Felix said after the meeting, adding that Brazil will not restrict its oil production.

Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natiq Aliyev said the outcome of the process hinges on Iran and Iraq, two nations that are more interested in increasing production than reducing it.

While Saturday’s meeting was a successful “first step,” oil-producing nations need to continue dialog and “come up with real numbers” before cuts can begin, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Energy Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev said in an interview after the meeting.

A deal was not possible because internal OPEC talks on Friday reached an impasse over the role of Iran and Iraq, both of which want to be exempt from any cuts.

While non-member Oman said on Saturday it was willing to cooperate in a supply deal, it could not commit to a specific output cut until OPEC had its own agreement.

OPEC agreed in the Algerian capital on Sept. 28 to reduce output to a range of 32.5 million to 33 million barrels a day, compared with about 33.4 million in September.

None of the countries that attended Friday’s meeting specified how much they are willing to cut, said one delegate.

Progress was made on the methodology to be used for allocating individual production curbs. On Saturday, no concrete output limits for non-OPEC countries were discussed.