Oil price now balanced, production freeze may have reverse effect - Siluanov
MOSCOW. Sept 23 (Interfax) - The world oil price is balanced at the moment and an agreement on a production freeze may have the opposite effect, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.
"In our opinion, the price is balanced at the moment. This is a price at which oil producers, especially shale producers, are within their production capabilities," the minister said in an interview for CNBC in the framework of the Moscow Financial Forum.
A freeze on current oil production, which oil-producing countries continue to discuss, [in particular, the issue may be raised in a few days at a forum in Algeria, even though experts do not expect a concrete agreement due to conflict between OPEC member countries] may inflate prices, according to Siluanov.
"A production freeze among a number of countries will not produce the effect which some expect. There is a possibility that there will be an increase in production as a result of growing shale oil production and then prices will fall again," the minister said.
