Gulf states may 'resist output cuts' at Opec meet

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Gulf oil producers, led by Saudi Arabia, will resist attempts to cut output at an Opec meeting next month as preserving market share remains their top priority, industry analysts said.

A decision by the 12-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries not to cut production in November sent prices crashing 60 per cent before a partial recovery in recent weeks. Gulf and other Opec members said they wanted to safeguard their share of a market that has faced a supply glut as a result of sharp increases in the production of shale and sand crudes.

"Preserving market share still remains a top priority for Gulf states," Saudi economist Abdulwahab Abu- Dahesh said.

"This time they are even encouraged by signs their November strategy is work-ing after a drop in US shale oil production and in the number of rigs," he said.

In the face of the sharp drop in their earnings, some Opec members, led by Iran and Venezuela, have publicly called for the cartel to cut production to support prices.

"I don't thing that any change will happen at Opec's meeting," a former member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council, Musa Maarafi, said.