Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.24
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Invitation of the US to take part in the discussions on OPEC oil output cut is pointless, Tom Pugh, the economist at British economic research and consulting company Capital Economics, told Trend Oct.24.
“It is difficult to invite the US, since all US oil production is private, so OPEC could invite all the CEOs of the various oil companies, who would refuse, because they are not allowed to collude, or they could invite the US energy secretary or someone like that, but aside from setting broad policy, politicians have little influence over US oil production. So it would be pretty pointless inviting them,” he added.
Earlier, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said that the organization will decide on whether to invite the US to its November 30 meeting in Vienna after the US presidential election.
However, later, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that the US will not participate in any agreements related to oil production.
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 in November.
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