Saudi Energy Minister: OPEC+ Will Stick To Cuts Through 2023

The OPEC+ group will keep its oil production targets unchanged until the end of the year in view of the high level of uncertainty on the global markets and with global economic growth, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, told Energy Intelligence in an interview this week.  

“There are those who continue to think that we would adjust the agreement before the end of year. For those I say they need to wait until Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 to demonstrate to them our commitment to the current agreement,” the energy minister of OPEC’s top producer and the world’s largest crude oil exporter told Energy Intelligence.  

Last October, the OPEC+ alliance decided to cut their collective production quota by 2 million barrels per day (bpd), although the actual cut is estimated at around half of that volume, due to many members of the pact under-producing compared to their targets.

Many bullish and bearish factors are currently at play in the oil market, influencing sentiment, the Saudi energy minister told Energy Intelligence in the interview.

China’s recovery is underway, but there is uncertainty about how long it would take. The global economy will grow, although the pace of growth is uncertain, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said. 

“The interplay of these and other factors limits clarity, and the sensible and only course of action in such an uncertain environment is to maintain the agreement we struck last October for the rest of this year and that is what we intend to do,” he said.

“We need to ascertain that the positive indicators are sustainable.”

China’s reopening is set to add momentum to global economic growth, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) this week, and revised up its forecast for Chinese oil demand growth this year. 

“In the emerging economies, China’s reopening, following the lifting of the strict zero-COVID-19 policy, will add considerable momentum to global economic growth,” OPEC said in the report.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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