OPEC chief recalls late Amir’s dedication to oil market stability

VIENNA: OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo hailed the role Kuwait’s late Amir His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah played in ensuring stability of the global oil market. Barkindo opened the 45th Meeting of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) on Thursday by paying respects to the late Amir. He also highlighted that his key role in breaking the impasse in 2016 that paved the way to birth of the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ (DoC) on December 16, 2016. “His passionate dedication to oil market stability and skilled diplomacy were central to the formation of the DoC and its success in the years since,” Barkindo said.

The JTC is a technical body that is mandated to review global oil market conditions and prospects, and monitor the conformity levels to the voluntary production adjustments adopted by the OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting. On oil market developments, the OPEC leader argued that for more than six months now, OPEC members have worked shoulder-to-shoulder to confront a market crisis that is without historic precedent. “The dark clouds of this pandemic continue to hang over us. In some countries, a second wave is already here, compounding both the human tragedy and economic uncertainty,” Barkindo said. He noted that OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report forecasts that global GDP will fall by around 4 percent this year and then bounce back in 2021 at a rate of around 4.6 percent.

“Our forecast for 2020 oil demand remains at slightly more than 90 mb/d, a 10 per cent decline for the year,” he said. In reviewing the longer-term prospects for the oil market, Barkindo stated that the recently-launched World Oil Outlook sees global primary energy demand picking up and continuing to grow, increasing by a significant 25 per cent over the next 25 years. He forecasted that oil would retain the largest share of the energy mix, accounting for nearly 28 percent in 2045. He concluded by noting that the worst of the current crisis may be over.