UAE forecasts no change to OPEC+ production plan: Minister
OPEC+ plan for steady production increases is working, says Al-Mazrouei
Dubai: There’s no need for OPEC+ to change its current production accord, UAE Oil Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said.
Al-Mazrouei’s view chimes with comments from his Iraqi counterpart, who said the market will remain in balance through the first quarter of next year - with oil hovering around $70 a barrel - if OPEC+ keeps its plans.
The 23-nation group has agreed to add 400,000 barrels a day of production every month as the global economy recovers.
“We have a plan and it is working, and I don’t see any reason why we should deviate from that,” Al-Mazrouei said at the Gastech conference in Dubai. OPEC is not “concerned about a surplus” in the second quarter of 2022.
Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar expects OPEC and its partners to stick to plans for a November crude-production increase if prices stay at current levels, though it’s too early to determine the result of the group’s next meeting on October 4, he said.
Benchmark Brent crude is currently trading around $75 a barrel, up 45 per cent this year.