The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is working toward long-term management of oil supply by its members and collaborating countries, according to the new president.
Suhail Al Mazrouei, minister of energy and industry of the United Arab Emirates and OPEC’s president for 2018, said a draft framework for a long-term alliance will be ready by yearend.
OPEC said recently that its 12 participating members and 10 non-OPEC oil-exporting countries complied last year at a monthly average rate of 107% with the agreement to trim production by a combined 1.8 million b/d. The agreement took effect at the start of 2017.
Participants have extended the accord twice to last through this year.
Al Mazrouei told The National newspaper of the UAE that the new aim is “for this group to stay together for a longer time.”
He noted that success of the effort to balance the oil market and firm crude oil prices has improved relations between leaders of the OPEC and non-OPEC groups, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al Falih, the OPEC president last year, said recently that the kingdom’s energy alliance with Russia would last for “decades and generations,” Al Mazrouei pointed out.
In conformance with the agreement, Russia has trimmed oil production against a 2016 baseline by 300,000 b/d, half the cut agreed by non-OPEC parties to the production accord.
Russian and Saudi officials now are discussing joint investments.
Interviewed by CNBC at a security conference Feb. 17 in Munich, Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, confirmed Russia’s interest in investing in a planned initial public offering of 5% of Saudi Aramco. He said his group could form a consortium of Russian banks and investors to participate in the IPO.
