(Bloomberg) -- OPEC nations aren’t giving support to a request from the group’s president for emergency consultations over tanking oil prices, according to a delegate.
Algeria, which holds the cartel’s rotating presidency, urged the secretariat this week to convene a panel that assesses market conditions as oil slumps amid the coronavirus crisis and a price war launched by OPEC’s biggest member, Saudi Arabia.
However, the request has failed to gather the majority backing necessary to go ahead, said the delegate, who declined to be identified as the group’s discussions are private. Riyadh is among those opposing the idea.
The kingdom remains locked in a bitter fight for market dominance with Russia after the two exporters -- who had led an alliance between OPEC and non-members -- clashed this month over how to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
Algeria had asked OPEC’s secretariat to convene a teleconference meeting of the Economic Commission Board, at which technical experts from member nations would review the impact of the coronavirus on oil markets.
Yet other members aren’t convinced of the purpose of such a session, as the stand-off between Riyadh and Moscow needs to be resolved by their respective leaders, the delegate said.
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