Saudis May Be Asking OPEC for Oil-Output Compromise : Energy: The country’s petroleum minister wants the cartel to chop 5% to 6% from its current output, an Arab official says in Geneva.
Saudi Arabia appeared to be steering fellow OPEC members toward a compromise deal Wednesday that would cut oil output just enough to stop prices from sliding further, delegates and analysts said.
Ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries opened their meeting with a brief formal session, then adjourned to private sessions to discuss the world’s oil glut, which threatens to cause a collapse in prices.
Much depends on Saudi Arabia, the group’s powerhouse producer and more important than ever since the Gulf War.
Saudi Oil Minister Hisham Nazir wants OPEC to chop 5% to 6% from current output of 24.2 million barrels a day, a senior Arab official said.
“He has no specific plan. He is waiting for other ministers to come out with theirs,” said the official, who attended one of the private meetings that ministers held after adjourning.
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