OPEC Secretary-General: "We Will Prevent a Repeat of the Sharp Oil Price Drop"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Mohamed Barkindo, Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), stated that he will ensure that sharp oil price drops do not recur.

According to foreign media on the 15th (local time), Secretary General Barkindo responded to a question during the Energy Intelligence Forum held via video conference about whether there is room to change the planned production cut easing, saying, "At the meeting at the end of next month, we will make sure that oil prices do not fall sharply again."

He added that the recovery of oil demand is slower than expected, saying, "We need to realistically consider that the pace of oil demand recovery is not catching up with the trend we anticipated earlier this year."

OPEC+ (the coalition of OPEC and major oil-producing countries) held an emergency meeting in April after oil demand plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing oil prices to crash. They agreed to reduce oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day in May and June, implemented this cut, and raised oil prices.

They met again in June and agreed to cut oil production by the same amount in July, which was also implemented. The production cut baseline is 11 million barrels per day for Saudi Arabia and Russia, and the October 2018 production levels for the other oil-producing countries.

According to the April agreement of OPEC+, from this year onward, OPEC+ oil-producing countries plan to cut production by 5.8 million barrels per day from January next year through April 2022.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.