Ministers roll target over as optimism builds

摘要

Opec’s decision to keep its 30mn b/d output target unchanged was a foregone conclusion at the organisation’s ministerial meeting in Vienna on 5 June. “The conference resolved to maintain the 30mn b/d ceiling and urged member countries to adhere to it,” the end-of-meeting press release says. The previous meeting’s press release made no mention of adhering to the 30mn b/d production level, which Opec has surpassed for nearly a year (see p4). Oil ministers from the core Mideast Gulf Arab members are optimistic about the state of the global market. Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi points to rising demand and tighter supply as a sign that Opec’s policy of defending market share rather than prices is bearing fruit, a policy he convinced the group to adopt late last year (AGM, 29 May, p1). “Demand is picking up,” Naimi says. “Supply is slowing, right? That is a fact.” But rebalancing the oversupplied global oil market will still take time, he says.