Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.18
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Kuwait will continue playing a role as consensus builder within OPEC, said the country’s Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity and Water Bakheet S. Al-Rashidi.
During a meeting with OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, the minister pledged to continue the tradition of Kuwait playing a constructive role as a consensus builder within OPEC, reflecting not only its status as a founding member of the organization, but also its commitment to OPEC’s cohesion as a group, said a message on OPEC’s website.
The sides also discussed preparations for the next meeting of OPEC-Non-OPEC producing countries' Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) to be held in Muscat, Oman, January 21. Kuwait will continue to serve as a member of the JMMC in 2018.
Moreover, emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah urged participating countries to continue to show faith in implementing the voluntary production adjustments in 2018, until the common objective of returning OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) inventories to the five-year average is achieved and the supply-demand balance is restored.
Al-Sabah acknowledged the positive response of the oil market to the implementation of the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ in 2017, including the unprecedented high levels of conformity with the voluntary production adjustments, with participating countries seeing average monthly conformity levels of more than 100 percent throughout the whole year.
OPEC and several other non-OPEC producers have reached an agreement to extend the production deal for a further nine months. This would shift the expiration date of the agreement from March to the end of 2018. The agreement is on the same terms as those agreed in November 2016.
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