ALGIERS —
OPEC and its biggest oil-producer ally outside the group, Russia, ruled out on Sunday any immediate, additional increase in crude output, effectively rebuffing US President Donald Trump’s calls for action to cool the market.
OPEC and non-OPEC energy ministers gathered in Algiers for a meeting that ended with no formal recommendation for any additional supply boost.
Benchmark Brent oil reached $80 a barrel this month, prompting Trump to reiterate on Thursday his demand that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lower prices.
The price rally mainly stemmed from a decline in oil exports from OPEC member Iran due to fresh US sanctions.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said “whatever takes place between now and the end of the year in terms of supply changes will be addressed.”
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said no immediate output increase was necessary, although he believed a trade war between China and the United States as well as US sanctions on Iran were creating new challenges for oil markets.
Oman’s Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Rumhy and Kuwaiti counterpart Bakhit Al-Rashidi told reporters after Sunday’s talks that producers had agreed they needed to focus on reaching 100 percent compliance with production cuts agreed in June.
That effectively means compensating for falling Iranian production. Al-Rumhy said the exact mechanism for doing so had not been discussed.
The statement from Trump, meanwhile, was not his first criticism of OPEC.
Seeking to reverse a downturn in oil prices that began in 2014, OPEC, Russia and other allies decided in late 2016 to reduce supply by some 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd).
In June this year, however, after months of cutting by more than their pact had called for, largely due to involuntary reductions from Venezuela and other producers, they agreed to boost output by returning to 100 percent compliance.
That equates to an increase of about 1 million bpd, but latest data show they are some way from achieving that target.
In August, OPEC and its allies cut production by 600,000 bpd more than their pact required, mainly as a result of falling output in Iran as customers in Europe and Asia reduced purchases ahead of the US sanctions deadline.
Iran told OPEC its production had been steady in August at 3.8 million bpd. OPEC’s own estimates, according to its secondary sources such as researchers and ship-trackers, put Iranian output at 3.58 million bpd.
OPEC also decided on Sunday to adjust the dates of its next meeting to Dec. 6-7 from the earlier-agreed Dec. 3.
The joint OPEC/non-OPEC ministerial monitoring committee will next meet on Nov. 11 in Abu Dhabi. — Reuters
