Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4
By Ali Mustafayev – Trend:
Replacing the OPEC agreement on reduction of oil production with an agreement on reduction of oil exports has many theoretical obstacles to implementation, Oleg Yegorov, chief researcher with the Institute of Economics of Kazakhstan, an expert on energy issues, told Trend.
"What can the oil producing countries do with the oil surplus that they have? It is impossible to store oil for a long period. Moreover, OPEC countries are interested in returning those spheres of influence that they had before, and exporting crude is an integral part of this process," Yegorov said.
The expert added that since the general economy in the world is starting to develop rapidly, although facing obstacles, it will require big volumes of crude for such countries as India, China and Japan to meet their internal demands.
"Another obstacle to such an agreement is that oil export has to do not only with the state, but also with foreign companies. For example, presently, Kazakhstan, along with the companies that produce oil there, exports 75-78 percent of the produced oil. A significant part of this volume belongs to foreign companies, which means that it is necessary to negotiate separately with all companies operating in the oil sector of Kazakhstan," Yegorov said.