OPEC Still Deadlocked on Oil Quotas
GENEVA — OPEC oil ministers were unable to agree on a lower production ceiling that would raise oil prices, and some said it would take a meeting of their heads of state to rescue the cartel.
The 13 ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a two-hour session on the sixth day of their Geneva meeting, were unable to find common ground on either a quota plan for sharply curtailed production or a less drastic proposal for voluntary restraints.
OPEC President Rilwanu Lukman said “we will see” when asked if a proposal for a meeting of OPEC heads of state would be discussed. However, Iranian Oil Minister Gholamreza Aghazadeh immediately rejected a summit, saying Iran would not attend a meeting that included Iraq.
Algerian Oil Minister Balkacem Nabi said at least four countries--Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates--blocked his plan for an informal pricing structure and quotas to reduce production by 4 million to 5 million barrels a day.
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