Gulf Countries Oppose Venezuela’s Oil-Price Summit Proposal

Persian Gulf countries are opposed to an oil-price summit with heads of state of both members and nonmembers of OPEC, officials familiar with the matter said, dimming the prospects of an gathering proposed by Venezuela.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait don’t want to hold a summit with producers such as Russia because they don’t think it would be successful in garnering commitments to cut production enough to prop up oil prices, the officials said.

"It will be like going back to square one,” said an OPEC official from a Gulf country. “It will have a negative impact on the market and prices if no real measures are taken,” the official said.

Last week, Venezuela called for global gathering of producers to tackle an oil slump that has lasted 16 months and seen prices fall to less than $44 a barrel this year, after highs of $114 a barrel in 2014. A major reason for the collapse: a big increase in supplies from the U.S., Russia and other producers.  ( by Summer Said and Benoit Faucon, Wall Street Journal)