Kuwait says OPEC’s June meet to focus on dialogue, not intervention

Kuwait’s acting oil minister on Thursday said OPEC’s meeting on June 2 is likely to focus on dialogue, rather than deciding on any coordinated action.

The "focus of the meeting will be to think and look around ... about what could be done further to stabilize the markets," Anas al-Saleh told Reuters in Tokyo.

"The expectation is to have more dialogue between OPEC members, and then from that we will be able to determine what would be the proper action going forward,” he said.

The oil cartel’s previous plan that sought to stabilize the global oil market by agreeing on a production freeze fell through during a producers meet in Doha, when Iran refused to participate in the deal.

Crude prices have fallen sharply since their high of above $100/bbl in mid-2014, touching a low of $27 in February this year. Global benchmark Brent crude has edged up since, settling above $47 on Thursday.

Al-Saleh said the price increase for Brent crude futures was justified.

"Based on the decrease in production that has been shown in the last three weeks, I assume fundamentally the price represents the fall of production," he said.

OPEC’s next official meeting is scheduled for June 2 in Austria's capital Vienna. The 13-member organization includes Kuwait.