Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
There is not much meaning to be attached to Iraqi prime minister's recent statement about that the country is ready to cut the oil output, Edward Chow, a senior fellow in the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Trend Nov.25.
OPEC governments and important non-OPEC oil exporting countries always make supportive statements before an OPEC meeting, according to the expert.
He pointed out that the oil market remains somewhat skeptical, having given up half the price gains it made after the Algiers meeting.
“We will have to see what the November 30 OPEC meeting brings. Too many pronouncements actually risk raising market expectation that leads to greater disappointment if OPEC and non-OPEC countries, which claim to be cooperating with OPEC, fail to take concrete action to cut production,” added Chow.
Earlier, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told reporters that the country is willing to cut its crude oil output as part of OPEC's plan to reduce global supply and boost crude prices.
"What we lose in lowering production we will gain in oil revenues," he said. "Our priority is to raise the price of a barrel of crude"
In September, OPEC producers agreed during the informal meeting in Algiers to cut down the oil output to 32.5 million barrels per day (bpd) from current production of 33.24 million bpd.
How much each country will produce is to be decided at the next formal meeting of OPEC on Nov.30 in Vienna.