ALGIERS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials from Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iran held talks here on Tuesday to discuss future development of the flagging oil markets.
Algeria's Prime Minister Office said in a statement that on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum being held in Algiers, Prime Minister Sellal Abdelmalek exchanged views with Saudi Deputy Oil Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz bin Salman Al-Saud.
The Algerian official also met with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, who told reporters "the Algerian prime minister considers it necessary to take actions to restore market balance, and we have agreed to pursue talks, in a hope to reach an agreement that would re-balance the market."
Observers said Algeria aims through such talks to approach divergent views between Iran and Saudi to facilitate the process of the informal OPEC meeting due on Wednesday in Algiers, which is seen as an opportunity to reach an agreement between OPEC members to either freeze or reduce output and ultimately boost oil prices.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters that Russia is conducting talks with other OPEC and non-OPEC members to redress crude oil market.
Russia is a major non-OPEC oil producer, and its participation in the forum is seen as a positive sign ahead of reaching a consensual agreement between global oil producers in a bid to restore balance to the volatile market.
