JEDDAH: Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al Falih (pictured) said there was consensus among Opec and allied oil producers to drive down crude inventories “gently” but his country would remain responsive to the needs of what he called a fragile market.
Falih said a possible rollover in the second half of 2019 of output curbs agreed by Opec and non-members was the main option discussed at a ministerial panel meeting during the day but “things can change by June”.
“This second half, our preference is to maintain production management to keep inventories on their way declining gradually, softly but certainly declining towards normal levels,” he told a news conference after the panel meeting.
Opec, Russia and other non-member producers, an alliance known as Opec+, agreed to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January 1 for six months, a deal designed to stop inventories building up and weakening prices.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak earlier said an easing of cuts had been discussed and the supply situation would be clearer in a month, including from countries under sanctions.
Two sources said Saudi Arabia, Opec’s de facto leader, and Russia were discussing two main scenarios for June’s Opec+ meeting and that both frameworks proposed higher output from the second half.
One scenario was to eliminate over-compliance with agreed cuts, which would increase output by some 0.8 million bpd, while the other option was to ease the agreed cuts to 0.9 million bpd. — Reuters
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