Saudi Arabia will discuss all issues at the OPEC meeting on Friday and listen to concerns of other members, said the nation’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi.

“We have a meeting on Friday, we will discuss all these issues,” al-Naimi told reporters Tuesday. “We will listen and then decide.”

Naimi spoke as he arrived in Vienna for a meeting that is widely expected to ratify the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision a year ago to defend market share rather than support prices. Some members including Iran and Venezuela continue to push for the group to reverse course and curb production.

David Fuller's view

We can assume from these comments that Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister, Ali al-Naimi, has begun the process of rebuilding cooperative ties within OPEC.  This is a logical step because he needs to have more producers of oil on side before reducing supplies. 

That would lift the price of Brent Crude but we are not talking about $100 plus per barrel.  Those days are gone forever, thanks to improved technologies for finding and producing both conventional onshore and offshore oil, plus unconventional oil via hydraulic fracturing (fracking).  Additionally, the increasing reliance on other technologies, led by solar, wind power and nuclear, ensures that the demand for oil is no longer trending ever higher.  Nevertheless, cutbacks could lift Brent Crude to the $60 to $70 region for a while. 

(See also: Iran Calls on Oil States to Cut Excess Crude: OPEC Reality Check)