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Oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela started a closed-door meeting in Doha on Tuesday, sources said, their highest-level discussion in months and a potentially pivotal sign that producers are preparing to tackle a devastating supply glut.
An agenda and schedule for the talks were not released, but the ministers are expected to hold a news conference once discussions are completed, sources aware of the matter said.
The talks in the Qatari capital Doha, which had been kept under wraps until recent days, involve powerful Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak, sources said, two figures who must reach an accord for any coordinated global action to hold any hope of success.
They will be joined by Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, who has in recent weeks been visiting major oil producers to rally support for the idea of "freezing" production at current levels in an effort to halt a downward spiral in prices, sources have said.
Also expected to attend is the oil minister of Qatar, which holds the rotating presidency of OPEC this year, an important role in coordinating consultations among members and suggestions for extraordinary meetings of the group.
The meeting comes after more than 18 months of declining oil prices, knocking crude below $30 a barrel for the first time in over a decade. The slump has been longer and deeper than anyone predicted, and the mood may be shifting among producers that have been determined to defend market share rather than prices.
Within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to prop up prices, Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu told Reuters late last week, adding that he too would be travelling to Doha to meet his Saudi and Qatari counterparts.
OPEC's leader Saudi Arabia has said it would cut output only if non-OPEC members agreed to join it.
Russia, the world's top crude producer and not a member of OPEC, has long refused, saying its industry was competitive at any price and it was technically challenging for Moscow to reduce production.
Yet more recently several Russian officials, including Novak, have signalled that cooperation with OPEC was possible.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's key ally, the head of state oil major Rosneft Igor Sechin - who had long spoken against cuts - said last week it would make sense for all producers to remove around 1 million barrels per day from the market.
He did not say whether Moscow was ready to contribute, while Putin has yet to speak on the subject.
Oil powers meet in Doha for private pow-wow as $30 crude woes mount| Reuters
An agenda and schedule for the talks were not released, but the ministers are expected to hold a news conference once discussions are completed, sources aware of the matter said.
The talks in the Qatari capital Doha, which had been kept under wraps until recent days, involve powerful Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak, sources said, two figures who must reach an accord for any coordinated global action to hold any hope of success.
They will be joined by Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, who has in recent weeks been visiting major oil producers to rally support for the idea of "freezing" production at current levels in an effort to halt a downward spiral in prices, sources have said.
Also expected to attend is the oil minister of Qatar, which holds the rotating presidency of OPEC this year, an important role in coordinating consultations among members and suggestions for extraordinary meetings of the group.
The meeting comes after more than 18 months of declining oil prices, knocking crude below $30 a barrel for the first time in over a decade. The slump has been longer and deeper than anyone predicted, and the mood may be shifting among producers that have been determined to defend market share rather than prices.
Within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to prop up prices, Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu told Reuters late last week, adding that he too would be travelling to Doha to meet his Saudi and Qatari counterparts.
OPEC's leader Saudi Arabia has said it would cut output only if non-OPEC members agreed to join it.
Russia, the world's top crude producer and not a member of OPEC, has long refused, saying its industry was competitive at any price and it was technically challenging for Moscow to reduce production.
Yet more recently several Russian officials, including Novak, have signalled that cooperation with OPEC was possible.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's key ally, the head of state oil major Rosneft Igor Sechin - who had long spoken against cuts - said last week it would make sense for all producers to remove around 1 million barrels per day from the market.
He did not say whether Moscow was ready to contribute, while Putin has yet to speak on the subject.
Oil powers meet in Doha for private pow-wow as $30 crude woes mount| Reuters
