Sources said that OPEC's plans to deepen the oil cuts and extend their deadlines were stalled on Friday, as non-OPEC member Russia refused to support the move, saying it was too early to predict the impact of the Corona virus outbreak on global energy demand.
Failure to strike an agreement between OPEC, Russia and other members of an alliance known as OPEC +, which has been supporting prices since 2016, has driven the benchmark price of collapse.
Brent crude has lost about a third of its value since the beginning of this year, as it tumbled to $ 47 a barrel, which puts highly dependent countries on oil under great pressure and puts many shale oil companies and other energy companies in the United States in severe distress.
"The agreement is dead," an OPEC source said.
OPEC sources said that Saudi Arabia, the largest producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), failed to reach a settlement with Russia in today's talks.
As a result, sources say, a current agreement to cut production will end in March, so OPEC members and producers outside of it will theoretically be able to pump as they like in an already overburdened market. And oil prices fell more than six percent to $ 47 a barrel.
On Thursday, OPEC ministers said that the outbreak of the Corona virus created a "unprecedented situation" that required movement, as global economic activity and oil demand were negatively affected by measures to stop the spread of the virus.