The current moves of OPEC+ to cut oil production are enough to support the market, Suhail al-Mazrouei, the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), told Reuters on Friday. The actions the OPEC+ group has taken so far are sufficient, according to the OPEC heavyweight the UAE.
“What we are doing is sufficient as we say today,” al-Mazrouei told Reuters.
“But we are constantly meeting and if there is a requirement to do anything else then during those meetings, we will pick it up. We are always a phone call away from each other,” the minister added.
At the OPEC International Seminar in Vienna early this month, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the OPEC+ alliance would do “whatever necessary” to support the oil market, after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced cuts to production and exports, respectively, for next month.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude oil exporter, said it would extend its unilateral oil production cut of 1 million bpd into August. Saudi Arabia will be producing around 9 million bpd in both July and August after extending the voluntary cut.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia would reduce its crude oil exports by 500,000 bpd in August in a bid to ensure a balanced market.
Russian crude oil exports have shown signs of declines for a second consecutive week and are estimated to have sunk to a six-month low in the four weeks to July 16. As Russia is preparing to cut 500,000 bpd off its oil exports in August, shipping plans so far suggest that Russia could deliver on at least part of its pledge to reduce oil exports next month.
Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports have also started to decline, to below 7 million bpd in May, for the first time in many months.
By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com
