UAE energy minister says no talk about further OPEC supply cuts

There is no talk of further oil output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies despite only a slow drawdown in inventories, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said on Thursday.

“I think OPEC countries and non-OPEC countries who joined us have done their part. We are looking at the others to do their part as well. We are not worried about the market recovery,” Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui told journalists on the sidelines of a conference in Paris.

OPEC and allied non-OPEC producers agreed on May 25 to extend an existing supply curb into 2018, but oil prices have fallen on rising production from the United States and from Nigeria and Libya, two OPEC members exempt from cutting output.

“Of course additional production coming from several producers is prolonging the recovery but I think that is rather short-term. We hope to see more recovery in the third and fourth quarters,” he said.

“There has been a correction, yes, the correction is a little bit slower than expected. We are at the bottom of the second quarter and it is always a low-demand quarter. Third and fourth quarters, we will have a pick-up in demand and hopefully reach a more balanced market,” Mazroui said.