UAE Says OPEC+ is Doing an ‘Excellent’ Job Balancing Oil Market

UAE Minister Praises OPEC+ for Strategic Oil Market Balance Amid Global Challenges

October 2, 2024
Fujairah, UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Wednesday that OPEC+ is doing a great job of balancing the oil market, even though it does not produce the majority of the world’s oil.

“OPEC+ has sacrificed more than others, but the main thing is to be together,” Mazrouei said at an industry event in the emirate of Fujairah.

“I want you to imagine a world without this group. We would be in chaos,” Mazrouei said, speaking hours before a planned virtual meeting of the OPEC+ group.

His comments echoed those of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on Monday, with the long-term aim of OPEC+ strategically reducing oil supply and giving up market share, with the long-term aim of ensuring adequate investments and oil prices to meet producer and consumer demand.

Output from OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, is equivalent to 48% of global oil supply, according to Reuters calculations based on figures from the International Energy Agency.

Mazrouei declined to comment on the prospects for oil in 2025, citing the many changing components, including geopolitics.

Oil prices rose more than a dollar on Wednesday on worries that Middle East tensions could escalate following Iran’s biggest military strike against Israel to date, disrupting crude production from the region. Brent crude was at $74.56 a barrel at 0330 GMT.

“I refer you to the OPEC perspective because I stopped commenting personally in the short term,” the minister said.

“There are so many moving parts of the world, including geopolitics, that give us all pause as we predict the future. We hope for peace, we hope for prosperity, but the facts of life are the facts of life.”

On Wednesday at 1200 GMT, OPEC+ ministers will convene online as the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).

Oil prices have fallen in 2024, with Brent crude sliding below $70 per barrel for the first time since 2021, weighed down by poor global demand and increased production outside of OPEC+.

OPEC+ has agreed to reduce production by approximately 5.7% of global demand beginning in late 2022.

The JMMC meeting on Wednesday is unlikely to endorse any changes to the present plan to begin cutting in December, according to five producer group sources

In September, OPEC+ agreed to delay a planned gradual oil production increase from October to December, saying it could further suspend or reverse the hike if necessary.