Coordination between members of oil-exporting cartel Opec and non-member producers is "vital" to rebalance the market, Opec chief Mohammad Barkindo said Monday. "We believe it is vital that both Opec and non-Opec countries come together and take co-ordinated action to rebalance this market for the common good of all," Opec's secretary general said at a forum in Abu Dhabi.
Opec pledged after a meeting in Algiers on September 29 to cut production for the first time in eight years on the back of a sustained depression in global prices. "The agreement underlined the organisation's commitment to sustainability of oil markets," Barkindo said. Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Barkindo said major non-Opec exporter Russia is "on board" with the cartel's agreement to limit production, according to Bloomberg.
"We as Opec remain committed to the Algiers accord," Barkindo said. "I have heard from the highest quarters in Moscow that Russia is on board." Opec officials have held talks with Russia and other non-cartel members in Vienna to debate how to implement the plan. "Russia was always very consistent," Barkindo told reporters in Abu Dhabi. Opec members Iraq, Iran, Nigeria and Libya have all sought exclusion from the cartel's exemption plan, Bloomberg News reported.
But the Opec chief said Tehran "will be part" of the Algiers agreement. Since a nuclear deal with world powers took effect in January and international sanctions were lifted, Iran has rapidly increased its oil exports from around 1 million barrels per day (bpd). On Wednesday, Tehran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying output in late October was 2.44 million bpd. UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said Monday that he was "optimistic" with the glut "almost gone" compared with one year ago. Prices currently hover at around $45 per barrel.
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