BAGHDAD: Iraq's oil minister said on Thursday talks would continue between OPEC and non-OPEC members to prop up oil prices, a day after a meeting aimed at trying to reach a global pact to freeze production ended inconclusively.
In his first response since the meeting between oil ministers from Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Venezuela in Tehran on Wednesday, Adel Abdul Mahdi said it was incumbent on producers to find a way of restoring "normal" prices and that rapprochement between OPEC and non-OPEC members was a step in the right direction.
Two of the world's top exporters - non-OPEC Russia and the group's leader Saudi Arabia - reached a surprise compromise earlier this week to freeze output at January levels, near their historic highs if other producers joined in.
OPEC Gulf producers Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, as well as Venezuela said they would join the Russian-Saudi pact, aimed at tackling a growing oversupply and helping prices recover from their lowest in over a decade.
But Iran is the major obstacle to the first joint OPEC and non-OPEC deal since 2001, having pledged to increase output sharply to regain market share lost during sanctions, which were lifted last month after an agreement with world powers, allowing Tehran to resume selling oil freely in international markets.
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