Continuation of the dialogue between OPEC and the leading shale oil producers of the US are in the interests of both sides, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said, speaking at the annual CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
"It is in our interests to continue the dialogue to exchange the vision and compare expectations. That is why we decided to meet again this time," Barkindo said.
"We are not talking about prices, we're not talking about cutting production. This is not the goal of our dialogue," the secretary general concluded.
According to him, OPEC will hold consultations with representatives of hedge funds on the sidelines of the CERAWeek Conference in Houston to discuss the impact of financial institutions on oil prices.
"Our meetings with the players in the financial market participants including hedge funds and oil managers are also the continuation of the meeting [with shale producers] we had last year at CERAWeek. Before that, we met in New York," Barkindo noted.
"There is no doubt that the financial markets are continuing to have an impact on oil, particularly on physical oil. This is one area that we have been battling to understand the dynamics and complexities of sophisticated markets," CNBC cited Barkindo as saying,
