"We are seeking to take a common decision, which everyone will support, whether it will be to freeze the level of output or reduce it. We are seeking to agree on the time frame of implementing the decision," Bouterfa said during a press conference.
Saudi Arabia has offered to reduce its output by 500,000 barrels per day, he added, noting that OPEC members plan to discuss the offer as nobody wants to have a fruitless meeting.
The minister expressed hope in the informal meeting being formalized.
"The OPEC general secretary can give the meeting an official status and we are working on making it official," he said.
In April, major oil-producing states failed to reach an output-freezing agreement in Doha, Qatar. Saudi Arabia, which had previously said that it would freeze output only if Iran followed suit, cited Tehran’s absence from the talks as reason for not supporting an output freeze. The output freeze idea was floated as a means to counter the ongoing global oil oversupply which has caused prices to plummet from over $100 per barrel to less than $50 per barrel.
