OpeOluwani Akintayo
23 August 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — A committee set up by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied non-OPEC exporters would review their crude output before the end of 2018, a report by Reuters has said.
According to the Kuwaiti Oil Minister Bakhit al-Rashidi on Wednesday, the agreement on what mechanism to employ will be agreed upon at a meeting in Algeria next month, he told reporters while touring an electricity station.
“The production numbers of OPEC and (countries) outside OPEC will be reviewed at the meeting in Algeria, and before the end of the current year, there will be an agreement on a mechanism to monitor output next year,” he said.
Oil markets should “remain stable” until the end of the year, he added.
The committee known as the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee, JMMC will meet in Algeria on Sept.23, chaired by Saudi Arabia and includes OPEC members Algeria, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, as well as non-OPEC members Oman and Russia.
Iran has been asked to attend the meeting to defend its market share which could be impacted by U.S. sanctions due to take effect on its oil industry in November.
After months of underproduction aimed at bolstering crude prices, OPEC agreed with Russia and other oil-producing countries to raise output from July.
Saudi Arabia said the deal allowed countries able to produce more to meet the group’s overall conformity level, meaning some members, such as itself, could make up for shortfalls elsewhere.
However, Iran, which faces U.S. sanctions, disagreed and criticised Saudi’s plans to boost output above targeted levels.
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