The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) won’t change policy at its next meeting unless other producers cut first, according to a former Qatar energy minister.
Producers’ cartel Opec is scheduled to next meet in Vienna in June, seven months after deciding to maintain output levels and protect market share.
Production by non-Opec members such as Mexico rose in February from the month before, US output is forecast to be the highest in three decades and Russian supply climbed to a post-Soviet high in January.
Unless non-Opec producers agree to collective action, Opec won’t change policy, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who was Qatar’s energy minister from 1992 to 2011, told the Doha Energy Forum today.
“I don’t advise Opec to have an extraordinary meeting without having a concrete decision to change policy,” he added.
Brent crude, a benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, has dropped 26% in value since Opec’s decision on November 27. Opec’s next regular meeting is scheduled for June 5.
Last month, Opec president Diezani Alison-Madueke said she would call a meeting if prices kept falling.
But Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said in Germany last week he was unaware of any plans for Opec to meet before June.
America’s Energy Information Administration has forecast that US output will increase to 9.3million barrels a day this year, the most since 1972.
Russia produced 10.71million barrels a day in January and Mexico’s state-controlled oil company boosted output to 2.33million barrels a day in February, from 2.25million in January.
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