Curbing oil production from Libya was not on the agenda of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting that occurred on July 24th in St. Petersburg, Bloomberg stated. Accordingly, Libya will not join any agreement limiting its output until it achieves a production target of 1.25 million b/d by December.

There is no need for OPEC and other oil producers to make deeper cuts in supply, Oman’s Minister of Oil and Gas, Mohammed Al Rumhy, said to reporters on the occasion of the meeting. Additionally, producers have not discussed deeper cuts and would have further consultations, Kuwaiti Oil Minister, Issam Almarzooq, stated.

The African nations Libya and Nigeria were both excluded from the cuts agreement, which was executed in January, due to the local challenges the two countries are facing in order to restore their production levels. However, their growing productions levels in recent months have induced speculation that OPEC may aim to limit their production in order to stabilize oil markets. 

Despite the concerns, the oil market will require additional Libyan and Nigerian crude as it re-balances at a faster rate later in 2017 after a slow start, OPEC’s Secretary-General, Mohammad Barkindo,told reporters in St. Petersburg.

“The re-balancing process may be going on at a slower pace than we earlier projected, but it is on course, and it is bound to accelerate in the second half,” Barkindo said.