MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. The expectations for the meeting of representatives of oil-producing countries in Doha were inflated, Deputy Chairman and chief economist of Russia’s VEB development bank Andrei Klepach said Tuesday, adding that the following drop of oil prices was anticipated.
"We based our forecast on the assumption that there would be more factors putting pressure on oil prices rather than triggering growth. The expectations for [the meeting in - TASS] Doha were seriously inflated. Even in case [the participants] agreed to cap [oil] production January for Russia, as well as for the bulk of the countries, was the peak period, which means excess oil supply. Second, it was clear that Iran would never agree to it as it had sharply slashed production due to sanctions previously. Europe has huge reserves. So [there were] more factors implying oil prices would go down once those expectations pass," Klepach said.