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Russian energy minister may meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart in fall

The meeting may take place in Algeria on September 27

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak does not rule out a meeting with the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih in Algeria on September 27, Novak told reporters on Monday.

"A ministerial meeting on the World Energy Congress will be held in Algeria. The Ministers might come there," Novak said.

He added that the congress will be held on September 27, 2016, and if there are agreements regarding a meeting with the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, the ministers of the two countries will be able to hold talks in the framework of the congress.

On April 17, representatives of 18 oil-producing nations met in Doha, Qatar to discuss freezing oil production cap, but failed to reach agreement.

According to Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar Mohammed Saleh Abdulla Al Sada, the countries’ representatives discussed several mechanisms of freezing oil production and decided that more time was needed. At the same time the 19th participant in the talks - Iran - on the eve of the meeting refused to discuss freezing oil production, explaining that by the recent lifting of the sanctions.

On February 16, in Doha, Qatar, oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, members of OPEC, and Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak held talks on improvement of the situation with oil prices. The parties expressed readiness to maintain oil production on the level of January of 2016, if other oil producing countries join this initiative.