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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Saudi, Kuwait signal likely extension of oil supply cuts

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ABU DHABI: Leading Gulf oil producers Saudi Arabia and Kuwait gave the clearest signal yet that OPEC plans to extend into the second half of the year a deal with non-OPEC producers to curb oil supplies.


Consensus is growing among oil producers that their supply restraint agreement should be extended after its initial six-month term, but there is as yet no agreement, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday.


“There is consensus building but it’s not done yet,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in the United Arab Emirates. Asked about non-OPEC producer Russia, Falih replied: “We are talking to all countries. We have not reached an agreement for sure, but the consensus is building.”


Kuwait’s oil minister Essam al-Marzouq, at the same event, said he expected to see an extension of the agreement.


“We have a noticeable increase in compliance from non-OPEC, which shows the importance of extending the agreement,” Marzouq said.


“Russia is on board preliminarily ... Compliance from Russia is very good. Everyone will continue on the same level,” he said.


If OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers decide to extend their six-month agreement, the cuts may become less deep as oil demand is expected to be stronger for seasonal reasons in the second half of 2017, Marzouq said. He said OPEC would extend the deal if there was consensus among non-OPEC producers, and that producers were always looking for more non-OPEC members to join the agreement.


One African country has expressed interest in joining, Marzouq said, without identifying it.


Oman’s Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy said a “quite high” number of producers favoured extending the supply restraint agreement.


“The number of countries that are supporting the extension I think would be quite high, percentage-wise,” Rumhy told reporters.


OPEC is keen that non-OPEC play its part in reducing world inventories to support a price rise that has stalled near $55 a barrel. Crude is up from lows last year below $30.


The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets on May 25 to discuss extending supply curbs with non-OPEC countries that total 1.8 million barrels daily, two-thirds of that from OPEC.


Falih said there was “an initial agreement” that the oil cuts may need extending to drain high global inventories. He said talks were ongoing. “Our target is the level of inventories. This is the main indicator for the success of the initiative,” Falih said.


While inventories held at sea and in producer countries have dropped, they remain stubbornly high in consumer regions, particularly in Asia and the United States.


The International Energy Agency said last week that inventories in industrialised countries were still 10 per cent above the five-year average, a key gauge for OPEC.


However, Iraq may seek to be exempt and ask to boost its own output, the leader of the nation’s ruling coalition Ammar al-Hakim said. — Reuters


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