Opec’s June meeting is likely to be another dud
After a dismal performance in Doha last month, it looks like Opec's meeting in June is going to be another dud.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec producers failed to agree a widely anticipated freeze deal at a meeting in April.
The split between long-term regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia prompted accusations that the oil cartel had lost its credibility. Earlier this week, Russia's biggest oil firm, Rosneft, said Opec's inability to agree rendered it effectively extinct.
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And next month's meeting is likely to be just as underwhelming, with Opec member Kuwait saying it expects all talk and no action.
Kuwait's oil minister, Anas al-Saleh, told Reuters that "the focus of the meeting will be to think and look around … about what could be done further to stabilise the markets."
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He added that the recent price increases from 12-year lows hit early in the year to around $47.5 per barrel for Brent crude were justified, despite some analysts warning that this doesn't reflect underlying market fundamentals.
"Based on the decrease in production that has been shown in the last three weeks, I assume fundamentally the price represents the fall of production," he said.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last trading up 0.2 per cent at $47.7 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, swelled 0.1 per cent to $46.4.