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Oil Rates Bounce Back 4 Percent on OPEC, Russia Negotiations in Doha | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak attends an international conference dedicated to the 175th anniversary of Sberbank in Moscow, Russia November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin


Cairo- Oil rates continued bouncing back on Tuesday from a multi-months low. The increase was realized based on hopes of a majority vote for a production agreement being reached at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) upcoming November meeting.

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak is due to hold sideline discussions with OPEC states when attending the Nov.17-18 Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Qatar’s Doha.

OPEC is due to meet on Nov. 30 to agree to limit output. An outline deal was reached in September but negotiations on the detail are proving difficult, officials say.

Rates had a solid 4 percent increase for Brent crude at an improving $46.5 per barrel, while U.S. crude went over $45 per barrel. The increase was highly influenced by the expected negotiations between OPEC countries and Russia in Qatar which are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

News of an attack on a major oil pipeline in Nigeria, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line in the southern Niger Delta, gave an additional push to prices.

More so, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih is expected to travel to the Qatari capital this week for meetings with oil-producing countries on the sidelines of an energy forum, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The 18th Gas Exporting Countries Forum will be held on Nov.17 in Doha. Each of Qatar and Russia are participating members at the forum—with the home to the oil giant Aramco, Saudi Arabia standing out.

Citing an Algerian news agency, Falih had already stressed on Sunday the importance of OPEC arriving to a basic agreement on rolling back production.

Limiting output is based on the September Algeria accord, which requires production to be downsized to an average of 32.5 million to 33 million bpd due to market oversupply. The cut on production will be a first after the 2008 oversupply-caused market crash.