MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. The current situation on the global oil market and its prospects till 2040 dominated the discussion between Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries /OPEC/ Abdallah el-Badri on Thursday.
"The situation on the oil markets and its prospects were the key issues discussed at the meeting," Novak said, adding that taxation in Russia’s oil sector and Iran’s return to the global market were also touched upon. The two sides also discussed global production of shale oil and its impact on the oil market, the Minister said.
The pricing policy of Russia and OPEC and oil production cuts were not discussed during the meeting, Novak said. "We did not discuss the issue /of production cut - TASS/, it wasn’t on agenda put that way /regulatory regarding oil price - TASS/," Novak said.
Oil production cut in regulatory regime is complicated for Russia, the Minister said. "A number of countries are not eager to do that either, OPEC has decided to keep the output. The demand-supply balance should be coordinated by the market," he said, adding that Russia is ready to attend the next OPEC meeting if it’s invited.
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The global oil demand will increase by 7-11% annually until 2020, Novak said. "According to our estimations the global oil demand is going to increase by 7-11% annually until 2020," he said, adding that the growth in demand will continue even after 2020. In 2015, global oil demand will increase by 1.2-1.3 mln barrels per day, he said. "We expect the global oil demand to increase by 1.2-1.3 mln barrels per day in 2015," the Minister said.
The "oil-for-goods" deal with Iran was not discussed during the meeting on Thursday, Novak said, adding that the memorandum signed between Russia and Iran in August 2014 is still valid. "Our memorandum is still valid. Certainly, the main task here is not the status of oil-for-goods deal but developing trade relations between our countries which are now getting additional opportunities considering the removal of sanctions," he said. Novak added that thanks to the removal of sanctions the countries will be able to make settlements in national currencies.