APS : Friday, 25 November 2016
ALGIERS- The Committee of Experts of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) opted for the Algerian proposal to be submitted to the Cartel ministerial conference on November 30th in Vienna, Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa said in an interview with APS.
“Algeria has put forward a proposal, which we believe is a good, balanced proposal and reflects the concerns of all parties,” the minister said.
“The Algerian proposal has been selected by the OPEC High Committee of Experts, which decided, last Tuesday, to submit it to the OPEC Ministerial Conference on Nov. 30,” he said.
“We are optimistic that our proposal will serve as a good basis for a final agreement,” Boutarfa affirmed.
The Algerian proposal “also represents a good basis for integrating the non-OPEC countries contribution to the efforts of OPEC countries,” the minister explained.
Asked whether his visit to Teheran scheduled for Saturday was part of Algeria’s consultations on the implementation of the Algiers Agreement, the minister said: “Absolutely, we will be received on Saturday by Iranian Minister of Petroleum, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, and we will hold further consultations with other countries in Vienna.”
In this regard, Boutarfa stressed that “President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has always favored dialogue, and our country is known for promoting the search of consensus”.
Thus, “we are continuing our efforts to achieve a consensual, just and balanced agreement that gives effect to Algiers Agreement,” the Energy minister said.
OPEC agreed last September in Algiers to cut the output to a level between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels per day.
Besides, Algeria “conducts numerous consultations with OPEC and non-OPEC member countries in order to reconcile views and to reach an agreement likely to stabilize the oil markets on a long-term basis,” the official said.
“We have discussed at length with our counterparts on practical issues and we remain optimistic that the Vienna meeting will consolidate the historical agreement reached in Algiers.”
