OPEC’s most senior official has said the organization and other major oil producers are “on course” to deliver a deal this month that will temper the global oversupply.
All of OPEC’s 14 members as well as erstwhile rivals such as Russia are committed to finalizing the agreement, to be completed when the group meets Nov. 30, Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said Monday in a Bloomberg Television interview. Even Iraq, which has demanded an exemption from supply caps and vowed to increase production, is willing to play its part, he said.
Oil’s rally above $50 a barrel has faltered amid doubts that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will make the supply cuts it pledged in Algiers in September as Iran, Iraq, Libya and Nigeria all seek to be excluded from the deal, while non-members such as Russia give equivocal signals of their support. At talks in Vienna last week, Barkindo warned of the consequences if producers don’t follow through on their agreement to reduce supply.
OPEC made “significant progress” when technical experts from member nations gathered in the Austrian capital on Friday to work on details of the deal, and again when they met the following day with representatives from Azerbaijan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Oman and Russia, Barkindo said. It’s too early to say how much these non-member producers may be willing to cut, he added. Bloomberg
