Brazil adds voice to call for G20 oil talks: Correction

Corrects Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman's title in second paragraph.

Brazil has demurred from participating in this week's Opec+ meeting following a Saudi call yesterday, and is instead echoing US and IEA proposals for a meeting of energy ministers in the context of G20 talks instead.

Brazil's mines and energy minister Bento Albuquerque held "very constructive" talks with Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman concerning the coronavirus crisis and oil market imbalance, the ministry said today.

Brazil is proposing that energy ministers gather within the scope of the G20 to coordinate a "search for mechanisms that contribute to the stabilization of the international oil market," the ministry said. "Brazil will be ready to participate in a meeting within the scope of the G20, a forum where both countries have a seat."

In a televised interview today, US energy secretary Dan Brouillette said the US will "encourage [Saudi Arabia], as chair of the G20, to perhaps convene an energy ministerial [meeting] towards the end of the week…And I expect that is going to happen late this week."

Brazil is a leading non-Opec oil producer, with more than 3mn b/d of production anchored on giant pre-salt reservoirs. Aside from previous participation as an observer, Brasilia has largely avoided Opec and non-Opec meetings, partly because of the growing role of foreign oil companies in its fast-growing output.

But this has not prevented the government from flirting with the producers' group. During a 2019 visit to Riyadh, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said he was in favor of Brazil coordinating with Opec, remarks that sparked a backlash within his cabinet.

State-controlled Petrobras, which accounts for around three-quarters of Brazil's production, has cut 200,000 b/d from domestic output in response to the oil price crash.

In remarks last week, Petrobras chief executive Roberto Castello Branco said the oil market tension between Saudi Arabia and Russia was "irrelevant in view of the scale of this crisis. The price of oil will stay low because the global demand for oil has fallen."

Mexico, Latin America's other big non-Opec producer, confirmed to Argus that it will participate in the 9 April Opec+ call.

By Nathan Walters