Bunker Prices, Crude Set to Remain Under Pressure as Gulf Producers Say "No Change" to High-Output Market Share Strategy

OPEC members say no cooperation from non-member producers means their strategy won't change.

Crude and bunker prices look set to remain under pressure, after a delegate from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said there will be no change to the strategy of high output from Gulf producers in order to maintain market share.

An unnamed OPEC delegate remarked, "There is no change in the Gulf coun‎tries' position with their market share strategy; also, none of the non-OPEC [countries] show they are willing to cooperate with OPEC for a cut."

This comes despite crude now languishing below $30 per barrel, a situation that has pushed bunker prices in some ports to their lowest since 2003.

For bunker prices, Ship & Bunker data shows key grade IFO380 in Rotterdam this week has been under $110 per metric tonne.

The comments came after, once again, the OPEC has reportedly rejected a call for an emergency meeting to discuss plummeting oil prices, this time from Venezuela.

An OPEC delegate from a Middle East member country told reporters that "Venezuela has requested an extraordinary meeting," and another source verified that the request had been made; however, four other delegates from member countries said the meeting is unlikely to happen.

This follows the familiar pattern of OPEC's Gulf members, including Saudi Arabia, opposing earlier calls for emergency meetings, even though the cartel's collective output is at record levels and extra Iranian crude is expected to soon hit a market in which Brent prices Wednesday closed below $28 per barrel.

Although an extraordinary meeting can occur with support from a majority of OPEC's 13 members, delegates say this won't happen without Saudi Arabia and other major producers agreeing to one.

A Middle Eastern delegate assured reporters that oil's calamitous price "will not be low for a very long time: if the price does fall to $20, many producers will leave the market."

OPEC's strategy is taking a considerable toll on member producers, and in November Algeria and Iran called for a return of the cartel's quota system, which was dropped in 2011.