Extension of OPEC-led Cuts Hinges on Market Conditions: Kuwait

Extension of OPEC-led Cuts Hinges on Market Conditions: Kuwait

Kuwait Oil Minister Bakhit Al-Rashidi said on April 16 that market conditions would determine whether OPEC’s agreement with non-OPEC countries to cut oil production will extend beyond the end of 2018, Times of Oman reported.

Al-Rashidi added the June 2018 OPEC meeting in Vienna would offer a chance to review the deal, noting that oil markets were heading in the right direction for stability.

OPEC and several separate oil producing countries including Russia agreed to a supply cut in January 2017, in an attempt to erase the global crude glut that had been accumulating since 2014.

UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei stated earlier that the majority of oil producing countries involved in the deal support its extension beyond 2018.

“I think the idea itself is liked by, if not all, the majority of the countries,” Al-Mazrouei said. “The ultimate target is to have this group working together for way longer than those two years than we’ve been working together.”

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on March 26 that Riyadh and Moscow were in talks regarding the extension of the agreement.

“We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10-to-20-year agreement,” Salman told Reuters in an interview in New York. “We have agreement on the big picture, but not yet on the detail,” he added.

Saudi Arabia spearheaded OPEC’s coalition with Russia and other non-OPEC countries to help reduce oversupply when oil prices collapsed from $100 to below $30 a barrel between 2014 and 2016.

Crude has since recovered to roughly a barrel but prices continue to face pressure due to US shale production.

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