No formal deal in Algiers: Mideast Gulf official

OREANDA-NEWS. September 26, 2016. There will be no formal deal at a meeting of oil producers in Algiers next week, a Mideast Gulf official close to Saudi Arabia told Argus today.

And asked if Saudi Arabia had offered Iran a deal on production levels, the official said this is "not an issue".

"Saudi Arabia's goal is to create consensus amongst oil producers to reach a credible agreement that will help stabilise the market," he said.

He stressed the Algiers meeting, to be held amongst Opec members and with major non-Opec producers on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF), will be informal, so will not result in any formal decisions. This echoes the views of Opec secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo.

Saudi Arabia wants the Algiers meetings to lead to consensus over arrangements that can be drafted into a formal agreement in November, when the next Opec meeting will take place.

A meeting of technical experts at Opec headquarters in Vienna yesterday "looked at different scenarios for Opec production", and those scenarios will be discussed at the informal talks in Algiers, he said.