3 sources in "OPEC Plus" (OPEC +) told Reuters that Russia is leading efforts to settle a dispute between Saudi Arabia and the UAE in order to help conclude an agreement to increase oil production in the coming months, while OPEC and its allies have not yet set a date for their next meeting.
The sources added that Moscow - which is urging an increase in production - is now working behind the scenes to bring both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to the negotiating table to find a path to an agreement.
Russia has strong political and economic relations with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
"We have time to come to a decision, and we hope that we will meet next week, and that an agreement will be struck," one of the three sources said.
The other two sources said that Kuwait - which is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries - is also working to settle differences between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Two different OPEC sources said there had been no progress in the negotiations, and no new date for a meeting had been proposed.
"There is no new development at this point," one said.
Disagreements between Saudi Arabia (the largest producer in OPEC) and the UAE - which opposed the extension of supply restrictions aimed at supporting prices after the decrease in demand due to the pandemic - was the main reason behind the failure of discussions at the last OPEC Plus meeting, according to a Reuters report.
High price and fears of decline
Oil prices rose today, Wednesday, recovering from a sharp decline in the previous session, after the cancellation of talks between OPEC Plus producers, which raised the prospects that the world's major crude exporters would turn to raising production to seize market shares.
By 07:15 GMT, Brent crude rose 1% to reach $ 75.27 a barrel, after losing more than 3% yesterday, Tuesday, and US crude rose 1.2% to reach $ 74.25 a barrel, after falling more than 2% in the previous session.
The failure of the talks raised fears that agreements to limit production could collapse, flood the market with supplies, and thus lower prices.
The Eurasia Group said in a note that "despite the increased risks of the collapse of OPEC Plus, the leadership in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi will likely try to avoid such an outcome."
On Friday, OPEC voted to increase production by about two million barrels per day from August to December, and to extend the remaining production cuts until the end of next year, but the UAE opposition blocked the agreement.
For its part, Goldman Sachs said that the failure of discussions has cast a shadow of uncertainty over OPEC's production policy, but it expected the price of Brent crude to rise to $80 a barrel early next year.
The Kuwaiti oil expert, Ahmed Badr Al-Kooh, had expected earlier that oil prices would remain above $70 during the next few period, with possibilities of further rise in the event that no agreement was reached between the countries of the "OPEC Plus" group.
Al-Kooh said - in statements to Al-Jazeera Net earlier - that crude prices around $70 remain satisfactory for oil producers from within and outside the group, but in turn, they are considered high and expensive for consuming countries.
He believed that the agreement to pump an additional 400,000 barrels by the members of the "OPEC Plus" group would calm the markets and send messages of reassurance to consumers.