Reuters reports that the Minister of State for petroleum resources Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, announced on Tuesday while addressing reporters at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, that some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had requested an emergency meeting, adding that current market conditions support the need to hold such a gathering.
”A couple of countries, I don’t want to mention names,” he said when asked if any had requested holding an emergency meeting.
”Any meeting that would take place would be to review OPEC’s position to see if there was any need to change its strategy”.
“Saudi Arabia has never held the position that it does not want to talk,” Kachikwu said. “In fact, it was very supportive of a meeting before June, at the time when we held the December meeting, if (there was a) consensus call for it.”
Brent Crude dropped to $31.3 on Monday breaking the $32 support levels that it has held on to since the new year. The price is now 72% lower than the $114 it traded at its peak in July 2014. There is now a growing list of analysts who now predict that the price of crude may soon drop to $20. However, the CEO of Shell worldwide had also opined that the downward trend will reverse this year.