UAE's oil policy is open to cooperation: Minister

Date

2/18/2016 11:50:42 PM

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

The UAE's oil policy is open to cooperation with all producers toward the mutual interest of market stability said UAE's Minister of Energy Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Al Mazrouei on Wednesday.

The minister who gave a keynote address at the 2016 CIS Global Business Forum in Dubai mentioned low oil prices in passing in his speech but did not comment further on a proposed cap to crude oil production agreed to by the four oil-producing countries - Saudi Arabia Russia Qatar and Venezuela - during a meeting on Tuesday in Doha.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday on hopes that major producing countries would seal an agreement on freezing production following a key ministerial meeting in Iran even though Tehran signalled a tough line. Brent crude was up $1.42 at $33.60 a barrel and US crude rose $1.16 to $30.20 a barrel.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh met his counterparts from Venezuela Iraq and Qatar in Tehran for over two hours. An Iranian official earlier said Iran would continue increasing its crude output until it reached levels seen before the imposition of international sanctions.

"Asking Iran to freeze its oil production level is illogical" Iran's Opec envoy Mehdi Asali was quoted as saying by the Shargh newspaper.

In Dubai Al Mazrouei declined to respond reporters' question at the Forum but said: "I will only talk about this conference."

Later he took to Twitter to say: "UAE oil policy is open to cooperate with all producers toward mutual interest of the market stability and we are optimistic on the future."

Earlier this month Al Mazrouei said he expected supply levels on world markets to "stabilise" easing pressure on crumbling prices. "The market will oblige all (producers) not to reduce but to stabilise their output levels" Al Mazrouei told Sky News Arabia.

He expected world demand for crude to rise this year by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) and also said it was "possible" that supplies from non-Opec producers fall by 500000 bpd.

Producers could fall short of the 1.8 million bpd gap because "several countries have suspended investments" needed to boost output capacity he said.

A freeze in production from the near-record levels in January would do little to relieve the glut analysts said.

"The market needs a cut not a production freeze" PVM analyst David Hufton told Reuters.

Under a proposal that could lead to the first global oil production deal in 15 years major producers including Russia and Saudi Arabia would freeze their output at January levels. But Riyadh said on Tuesday the deal depended on the cooperation of other big producers.

Iran the Opec's fourth-largest producer might be offered an exception as it seeks to ramp up production following the removal of sanctions over its nuclear programme last month said Ildar Davletshin analyst at Renaissance Capital.

With inputs from agencies

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.