OPEC to keep production steady as oil rally falters
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has ‘no choice’ but to maintain its current production level of 30 million barrels per day, according to Kuwait’s oil minister Ali al-Omair.
Both Brent and WTI rallied briefly on Fed comments overnight as the dollar declined. However, the rally subsequently stalled in early Asian trading on Thursday. Following the reversal, al-Omair said the oil price decline remained a concern when it came to balancing his country’s budget.
“We have no choice. We don’t want to lose our share in the market. There have been no serious requests for an emergency OPEC meeting,” he added.
In recent weeks, Kuwait’s fellow OPEC members Nigeria and Algeria have called for an emergency meeting to cut the production level agreed at its last meeting in November. However, Saudi Arabia remains opposed to such a move.
As such, al-Omair said there were no credible plans to bring forward the next meeting scheduled for June 4-5 at its secretariat in Vienna. Meanwhile, the market continues to suffer from a supply glut.
On Wednesday, the US Energy Information Administration said crude oil stocks rose by a further 9.6 million barrels last week, with non-OPEC production at record highs. OPEC currently holds over 30% of the global market share.
At 11:00 GMT on Thursday, Brent futures contract for May delivery was trading down 73 cents of 1.3% at $55.18, while WTI was down $1.26 or 2.7% at $45.39.
Source: Sharecast – OPEC to keep production steady as oil rally falters
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