OPEC is not the enemy of the U.S., UAE energy minister
says
Send a link to a friend
[January 12, 2019]
By Maha El Dahan and Rania El Gamal
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Oil producer group
OPEC is not the enemy of the United States, United Arab Emirates Energy
Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
"We are complementing each other, we are not enemies here," Mazrouei
told an industry conference in Abu Dhabi, addressing the relationship
between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the
U.S., a major oil consuming country.
OPEC and other leading global oil producers led by Russia agreed in
December to cut their combined oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day
from January to prevent a supply glut and boost sagging prices.
The decision came despite U.S. President Donald Trump's call for the oil
exporters' club to refrain from cutting production, saying it would
trigger higher oil prices worldwide.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Jan/12/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Mazrouei said the average oil price in 2018 was $70 a barrel. His Omani
counterpart Mohammed al-Rumhi, addressing the same event, said he
expected a price of between $60 and $80 a barrel in 2019.
The 1.2 million bpd cut should be enough to balance the market, Mazrouei
said, expecting the correction to start this month and to be achieved in
the first half of the year.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/011219pics/busine37.jpg)
UAE's Oil Minister OPEC President Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei
addresses a news conference after an OPEC meeting in Vienna,
Austria, June 22, 2018. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Jan/12/images/ads/current/state_bank_LDA_charity_010818.png)
"We are assuming no changes in the cut that we have," he said.
Mazrouei also said he did not expect OPEC members Venezuela, Libya or Iran, who
effectively have exemptions from the cuts, to increase their oil output in 2019,
rather it was more likely their production would decline.
Both Mazrouei and Rumhi said there was no need for OPEC and its allies to meet
before April when they are set to decide their output policy for the rest of
2019.
"Things are working well," said Rumhi, whose country is taking part in the
supply reduction agreement but is not an OPEC member.
(Reporting by Rania El Gamal and Maha El Dahan; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli and
Lisa Barrington; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/ldn_business_directory_small2_2016.png) |