Oil cartel Opec aims to agree on a longer-term partnership with non-member producers by the end of the year, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei told local media Thursday. Mazrouei, who currently holds the rotating Opec presidency on behalf of UAE, says putting a "draft charter" in place by the end of 2018 is a goal of his government, in an interview published by The National.
The objective, the minister said, is "for this group to stay together for a longer time". Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia in January first called for extending cooperation between the 14-member cartel and independent producers after a deal it spearheaded with Russia to cut output succeeded in shoring up prices.
The call, the first explicit invitation by Riyadh for long-term cooperation between Opec and non-Opec oil producers, came with oil prices topping $70 a barrel thanks to the deal, after they dove below $30 a barrel in early 2016.