Next Week Could Be A Turning Point For The OPEC Output Deal

OPEC ministers and ministers from other oil producing nations will discuss this week the progress of the production cut deal and a mechanism to monitor crude oil exports, on the sidelines of an energy forum in St. Petersburg, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.

"We will discuss the state of the market and the current situation regarding monitoring and execution of the crude production deal with our colleagues at the Russian Energy Week," Russia's TASS news agency quoted Novak as saying.

"At the latest meeting we agreed to monitor oil exports. This is a new instrument, which has not been clearly formed yet, which is why I think it will be one of the main issues on the discussion agenda from the viewpoint of export control mechanism," Novak noted.

Before the latest meeting on September 22, reports emerged that the OPEC/non-OPEC joint panel tasked with monitoring the cuts-which consists of OPEC's Kuwait, Venezuela, and Algeria, as well as non-OPEC Russia and Oman-was expected to discuss a proposal to consider informal monitoring of crude oil exports, in addition to supervising compliance to production cuts.

The Russian Energy Week runs between October 3 and 7 in St. Petersburg and includes meetings and panels made up of various industry executives and officials, including OPEC's Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo.

"Around 30 ministers have confirmed participation, maybe even more. More than half of OPEC ministers will arrive, ministers from Algeria, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some other countries have already confirmed that they will participate," Novak said, as quoted by TASS. Related: This Giant Oil Trader Sees Upside For Oil Prices

Bilateral meetings will also be held on the sidelines of the event, the Russian minister added.

Although it's not an official OPEC meeting, the talks and discussions on the sidelines of the Russian forum this week will be another opportunity for OPEC members and Russia to share views and news ahead of the official OPEC summit in November. Although almost all ministers have said that it's too early to decide on a possible extension of the production cuts, OPEC and friends are keeping "all options open" for speeding up the rebalancing of the oil market.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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