SKOLKOVO, May 27. / TASS/. The Russian Energy Ministry expects to reach agreement on OPEC+ charter by the meeting of ministers of participating countries on oil production reduction, scheduled to take place in June, said Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Monday.
"The draft, in principle, has been prepared for a long time, now it is being approved. The OPEC coordinated. The OPEC secretariat is working out the details; they are working with the countries. I hope that it will be agreed upon by the June meeting," Novak said.
The draft charter on OPEC+ cooperation has been in the works since last year, the document should formalize the countries cooperation for an indefinite period starting from 2019. Previously, for two years, the countries of the alliance regulated production as part of the declaration of cooperation. The charter is a new framework document fixing the format of cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, including Russia, which started at the turn of 2016. The document was planned earlier to be signed at the OPEC+ ministerial meeting in December 2018 but further revisions were required.
The Charter does not provide for the legal obligations of the member countries and is not the charter of the new organization, explained TASS sources in OPEC. After the preparation of the anti-cartel bill, known as the NOPEC Act, began in the US, OPEC + abandoned plans to create a new cartel based on OPEC + headquartered in Vienna. At present, the charter only focuses on a voluntary alliance, whose actions do not pursue price regulation in the oil market, but are only aimed at maintaining a balance.