Russian Oil Magnate Meets with OPEC Before Official Meeting

Russia’s most powerful oil official, Igor Sechin, was due in Vienna on Tuesday for talks with OPEC members as the group’s leader Saudi Arabia kept the market guessing about its response to flagging oil prices.

Sechin, the head of state oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is expected to meet OPEC officials amid hints from Moscow that Russia could cut output or exports if the producer group does the same.

Oil prices have fallen 30 percent since June to around $80 per barrel as a global oil glut has built up on the back of a U.S. shale boom and lower global demand because of slower economic growth in China and Europe.

 
Current prices are far below what most OPEC members and rival producers such as Russia need to balance their budgets.

Oil market watchers are divided on the outcome of OPEC’s meeting this Thursday in the Austrian capital. Predictions range from a large production cut to revive prices, to a small reduction, or none at all.

Some analysts say an OPEC cut of as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) is needed to support oil prices and avoid a glut aggravating in the first half of 2015.

via Reuters

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