25 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Ministers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, are to meet on December 4 in Vienna, Austria, to assess the oil market and the group’s output policy.
The meeting would be holding amid failure by the the organisation’s board of governors to agree on the group’s long-term strategy.
Governors of the 12-member group could not agree on the final draft of the plan at a meeting in Vienna earlier this month.
They disagreed on clauses suggested by some members, including about curtailing output, setting production quotas and finding ways to maximise OPEC profit.
Approval of the plan is, therefore, delayed until at least the next meeting of the board of in 2016, said delegates at the meeting of the governors.
Venezuela and Algeria are among OPEC states most affected by the slump in oil price and have long urged fellow members to curb production and support prices.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, led the group to switch its strategy in November 2014 to focus on pressuring competitors such as US shale producers and reclaiming market share.
Oil tumbled since the middle of last year as US stockpiles and production expanded, creating a global oversupply. OPEC decided at its last meeting on June 5 to keep its production target of 30 million barrels a day unchanged, although the group has exceeded the ceiling for the past 17 months. OPEC member Iran has asked OPEC to accommodate its planned production increase once sanctions are lifted.