OPEC to Scrap April Meeting But Keep Oil Cuts in Place
Vienna (Dispatches) - OPEC is set to scrap its planned meeting in April and decide instead whether to extend oil output cuts in June.
A ministerial panel of OPEC and its allies recommended on Monday that they cancel the extraordinary meeting scheduled for April 17-18, which means the next regular talks would be held on June 25-26.
The energy minister of OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, said over the weekend that the market was looking oversupplied until the end of the year but that April would be too early for any decision on output policy.
"The consensus we heard ... is that April will be premature to make any production decision for the second half,” the Saudi minister, Khalid al-Falih, said on Monday.
"As long as the levels of inventories are rising and we are far from normal levels, we will stay the course, guiding the market towards balance,” he added.
The United States has been increasing its own oil exports in recent months.
Washington’s policies have introduced a new level of complication for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as it struggles to predict global supply and demand.
A ministerial panel of OPEC and its allies recommended on Monday that they cancel the extraordinary meeting scheduled for April 17-18, which means the next regular talks would be held on June 25-26.
The energy minister of OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, said over the weekend that the market was looking oversupplied until the end of the year but that April would be too early for any decision on output policy.
"The consensus we heard ... is that April will be premature to make any production decision for the second half,” the Saudi minister, Khalid al-Falih, said on Monday.
"As long as the levels of inventories are rising and we are far from normal levels, we will stay the course, guiding the market towards balance,” he added.
The United States has been increasing its own oil exports in recent months.
Washington’s policies have introduced a new level of complication for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as it struggles to predict global supply and demand.