A dispute over production levels caused the cancellation of the OPEC+ meeting, which was scheduled to be held on Monday.
A row erupted at the meeting last week, when the UAE objected to a proposed extension of production curbs for an additional eight months.
An initial agreement was postponed until Monday, but was later canceled. No new date has been set for the resumption of talks.
The UAE demanded an amendment to the production ceiling, saying on Sunday that it backed an output increase from August but suggested deferring to another meeting the decision on extending the supply pact.
“The extension is the basis and not a secondary issue,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Al Arabiya television channel.
“You have to balance addressing the current market situation with maintaining the ability to react to future developments ... if everyone wants to raise production then there has to be an extension,” he said, noting uncertainty about the course of the pandemic and output from Iran and Venezuela.
“Big efforts were made over the past 14 months that provided fantastic results and it would be a shame not to maintain those achievements. ... Some compromise and some rationality is what will save us,” the Saudi energy minister emphasized.
OPEC+ had agreed to reduce production by about ten million barrels per day as of May 2020, to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, with plans to gradually end the cuts by the end of April 2022.
The UAE agreed with the countries of the OPEC+ group, at a meeting on Friday, to increase production by about two million barrels per day from August to December 2021, but it refused to extend the remaining cuts until the end of 2022 instead of the end of April 2022.
