Production Freeze, $50 Oil is Coming

Production Freeze, $50 Oil is Coming
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/27/opec-member-production-freeze-50-oil-is-coming.html

In spite of recent disagreements between cartel members, Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, told CNBC that OPEC will be able to come together in an agreement to freeze oil production as a way to combat low oil prices.

"The Minister for energy in Qatar and the President of OPEC is leading that pact and there is a lot of conversation going on and there's a lot of consensus building on the issue of the freeze," Kachikwu said in an exclusive interview with CNBC's "Fast Money" on Friday.

"Saudi Arabia and Russia are aligned on the issue of a freeze, so I think the chances are very high," Kachikwu added.

Speculation over OPEC's intentions has been running at a fever pitch, and whipsawed the price of crude. To date, Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, has voiced strong resistance when it comes to a production cut, but has indicated an openness to a freeze.

Freeze is the beginning of a process, and that means if we can get all the major producers to agree not to add additional balance, then this high inventory we have now will probably decline in due time. It's going to take time," Naimi said at the annual IHS CERAWeek energy conference in Houston this past week.

"It is not like cutting production. That is not going to happen because not many countries are going to deliver even if they say they will cut production — they will not deliver. So there is no sense in wasting our time seeking production cuts," he added.

Video:
Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu, former president of OPEC, discusses whether an Opec oil production freeze is in the cards: