Saudi Arabia pushing for united front on oil output

Saudi Arabia will not cut oil output on its own to stabilise the market, Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih said yesterday as Nigeria and Russia said it is too early to signal whether they would join any production curbs.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies, led by Russia, meet in Vienna next week against the backdrop of concerns over a slowing global economy and rising oil supplies from the US, which is not involved in an existing agreement to restrain output.

The negative outlook helped to push oil below $60 a barrel this week from as high as $85 in October, prompting Saudi Arabia to suggest significant production cuts.

Riyadh, however, has come under renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump, who asked the kingdom to refrain from output reductions and help to lower oil prices further.

Al Falih was in Abuja to meet his Nigerian counterpart Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu. The Saudi minister said signals from fellow Opec members Iraq, Nigeria and Libya were positive ahead of the group’s December 6 talks because all ministers want to restore oil market stability.

“We are going to... do whatever is necessary, but only if we act together as a group of 25,” Al Falih said, referring to Opec and its allies. “As Saudi Arabia we cannot do it alone, we will not do it alone. Everybody is longing [to] reach a decision that brings stability back to the market... I think people know that leaving the market to its own devices with no clarity and no collective decision to balance the market is not helping.”