Abu Dhabi: The UAE Energy minister said he is optimistic that non-Opec countries will cooperate in cutting production to stabilise oil prices as part of the deal which the group reached with non-Opec members in Vienna last week.
“We are optimistic about the commitment from non-Opec. I think it’s reasonable what we set for them. It’s half of what Opec committed to cut,” said Suhail Al Mazroui while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Bloomberg Markets Most Influential summit in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Opec member countries would be holding talks with countries outside the group on December 10 in order to chalk out details on the implementation of the deal that was reached last week.
The UAE energy minister said fourteen countries have been invited to the meeting including Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan.
When asked whether Russia will cooperate in slashing output, he said Russia is a responsible producer and expects it to respect the decision.
“I can’t say who will bring the biggest cut (among non-Opec countries) but it depends on every country. If we reach balance everyone will benefit. We expect market recovery in the first half of 2017.”
He further added: “Everyone understands the decision of Opec. It’s a group decision. I have the trust in the oranisation and the members of the organisation.
The fourteen member Opec group reached an agreement to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day on November 30.
Non-Opec countries too will be slashing output by 600,000 barrels per day with Russia contributing 300,000 per day.
This is the first time since the financial crisis in 2008 that Opec countries came together to slash output to stabilise oil prices.
Oil prices have rallied since the decision on November 30. Brent, the global benchmark was trading at $53.64 per barrel on Wednesday at around 12:15 pm UAE time.
