Oil slide could trigger OPEC emergency meeting

According to the oil minister of Nigeria, OPEC President Diezani Alison-Madueke, almost all OPEC countries, except perhaps the Arab bloc, are very uncomfortable.

If the price slips any further it is highly likely that they will have to call an extraordinary meeting of OPEC in the next six weeks, she said in an interview with The Financial Times. "We’re already talking with member countries," the president of OPEC said. At the same time, the magazine writes, it's highly unlikely that Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, will agree to such a meeting.

Earlier Riyadh made it clear that it does not even care so much about a strong decline in oil prices. The Nigerian minister expressed hope that the price of oil will stabilize at no less than $60 per barrel. The price of Brent crude has touched a low of $45 per barrel. Since June 2014 the price of a barrel of oil of this brand has fallen by almost 50%, TASS notes.

A regular meeting of OPEC member countries will be held in June, but all 12 members have to agree to such a move, Interfax writes. In November, the organization decided to maintain the current oil production quotas - 30 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia believes that its key objective is to maintain market share and, therefore, the traditional strategy of OPEC to reduce production in the case of falling prices does not meet its interests.