Qatar’s exit from OPEC won’t affect output: UAE energy min
OPEC and non-OPEC cooperation deal to be signed in three months: UAE
ABU DHABI, Dec 10, (RTRS): Qatar’s exit from OPEC “won’t affect production moving forward,” the UAE’s energy minister said on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
Suhail al-Mazrouei said the UAE did not understand Qatar’s decision to remove itself from OPEC, which the Qatari minister of state for energy affairs said last week was a strategic one.
Qatar, one of OPEC’s smallest oil producers but one of the biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, is embroiled in a row with OPEC members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
It has an oil output of 600,000 barrels of oil per day, compared to Saudi Arabia’s 11 million bpd output.
A general cooperation agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC countries will be signed in three months’ time in Saudi Arabia, the UAE’s energy minister said on Monday.
“By (the) end of March the document will be ready for signature,” al-Mazrouei said at an event in Abu Dhabi of the cooperation agreement, which will be a forum with frequent meetings to work together to achieve market balance.
In a separate deal on Friday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some non-OPEC producers including heavyweight Russia said they would cut oil supply by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
OPEC agreed to cut production by 800,000 barrels bpd, led mainly by Saudi Arabia, while non-members will cut by 400,000 bpd, with most of that shouldered by Russia.
They will decide on whether to extend that agreement after six months, al-Mazrouei, OPEC’s current president, said.
Qatar’s exit from OPEC “is not going to affect us or the production moving forward,” he said.
“OPEC is attracting non-OPEC members like South Africa and others,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in a tweet he had discussed the state of the oil market with US Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Monday in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
The meeting took place after OPEC and non-OPEC oil exporting countries rejected pressure from US President Donald Trump to further reduce oil prices by refraining from cutting production.
OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed on Friday to reduce production by 1.2 million barrels per day from January.
“We also discussed the Kingdom’s efforts to develop technologies to reduce carbon emissions, energy efficiency and technical cooperation opportunities between the two countries,” al-Falih added in the tweet.
Commenting on US pressures, alMazrouei said OPEC “won’t take instructions from anyone.” “Every country has a sovereign right,” he added at an event in Abu Dhabi.