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Doha oil producers meeting ends without an agreement
Javier E. David | @TeflonGeek
2 Hours Ago
CNBC.com
Doha, Qatar.
Justin Solomon | CNBC
Doha, Qatar.
A summit in Doha between the world's largest oil producing countries ended
without an agreement on Sunday, as country leaders failed to strike a deal
to freeze output and boost sagging crude prices.
Initially, the conference's outcome was thrown into doubt after Iran made a
last minute decision not to attend and Saudi Arabia vowed not to halt or
freeze production unless other major producers did the same. Amid strains
between the regional rivals, nearly 20 of the world's largest oil exporters
could not find enough common ground to hold the line on output after
marathon talks.
Qatar's oil minister told reporters that the group "needs more time" to
construct the outlines of a deal to freeze output, but cited "improved
fundamentals" as a reason why an immediate agreement wasn't necessary.
Before the meeting ended in failure, a draft accord proposed to hold output
at January levels until at least October.
The dynamic has left the world awash in oil supply and sent prices reeling.
All eyes now turn to June's meeting of OPEC countries, where the cartel's
hand may be forced if crude prices begin another downward spiral. The
failure of the summit could also lead to drop in crude prices in global
markets.
John Kilduff, a partner with Again Capital, said the breakdown in Doha was
not a surprise. "They were locking in record production so it made no sense,
" he said of the Doha deal. "It seemed like a farce from the start and it
turned out to be exactly that."
Recently, oil prices have crept up from multi-year lows below $30, to levels
just above $40 on Friday. Brent crude, however, is far below a mult-year
high above $100 set in 2014, and is down nearly 40 percent over the last
year. The recent rally, which took crude 55 percent from its lows, was in
part fueled by optimism producers would reach a deal to freeze production.
Tehran is strongly resistant to the idea of an output freeze, as it attempts
to recoup lost market share after being freed from the yoke of Western
sanctions. With the country declining to participate, the meeting's
delegates appeared to doubt how effective a freeze could be if it didn't
include Iran.
"With Iran, we respect their position and through further consultation, we
don't know how their future will unroll," Qatar's oil minister said. "It was
a sovereign decision by Iran. A freeze would definitely be more effective
if OPEC and non-OPEC" participated he added.
Market observers had hoped that the meeting's participants could strike a '
gentleman's agreement' that would at least save face and serve as a bridge
to June's OPEC meeting. However, the collapse of the talks suggest that
global crude prices may come under renewed pressure.
However, selling may be limited because of a strike in Kuwait that has taken
more than 1.5 million barrels a day off line. Kuwait's workers started an
open ended strike this weekend over pay and benefit cuts.
Oil analysts say the failure of Doha deal came down to the refusal of Saudi
Arabia and Iran to agree, and it appears that Saudi Arabia Deputy Crown
Prince Mohammad bin Salman was the one who made the final call.
The vast majority of OPEC's member states are feeling the pinch of sagging
oil, as revenue derived from exports is used for lavish public spending and
pacify domestic pressures. However, it is widely suspected that countries
such as Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, are playing a game
of economic chicken with U.S. oil producers.
The U.S. shale boom has driven up the world's oil supply and depressed
prices. While consumers have received the equivalent of a massive tax cut
through cheaper oil and gas prices, the drop in crude has made it uneconomic
for many shale companies to continue to churn out oil.
Last year, U.S. domestic production surged above 9 million barrels per day,
the highest in at least 3 decades. Recently, the Energy Information Agency
cut its output forecasts for 2016 to 8.6 million barrels per day.
Meanwhile, countries that were once flush with oil revenues have had to
adjust to tougher economic reality. Countries like Venezuela and Nigeria
have fallen on hard times, while being forced to contemplate a "post-oil"
era of economic diversification.
--CNBC's Patti Domm, Brian Sullivan and Hadley Gamble contributed to this
article.