KUWAIT urges non OPEC members to cooperate and stabilize oil market
The minister called on producers from outside OPEC to 'cooperate with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to guarantee stability of the market and prevent major swings in oil prices.' He was speaking from Vienna, where on Thursday the 12-member OPEC cartel decided to keep its production ceiling unchanged sending oil prices crashing. Al-Omair insisted the OPEC decision was 'right' and the 'best solution at the present time,' adding it was based on market information.
He said OPEC members agreed to hold their next meeting in June and decided against convening an emergency session unless necessary. Global oil prices plunged Friday to new multi-year lows after the OPEC the decision despite an oversupplied market.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in January closed at $66.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $7.54 from the closing price Wednesday. It was the lowest WTI close since September 2009.
Brent oil for January delivery sank below $70 for the first time in four and a half years, to $69.78 a barrel. Brent settled at $70.15 a barrel, down $2.43 from Thursday's close. Al-Omair said OPEC oil ministers' decision to maintain the cartel's output ceiling unchanged was 'right' and based on a thorough study of the global oil mar ket. 'OPEC ministers' discussions about the developments of the oil price and production led to a concurrence that keeping the cartel's production ceiling at 30 million barrels per day is the best solution at the moment,' Al-Omair said in an interview with KUNA.
The Minister, however, expected that the price deterioration would end soon. 'Extra supply in the oil market and the slowdown in the global economic growth will not last for a long time.
The market will gradually absorb the oversupply which will reflect positively on prices.' He highlighted the importance of the global economic growth on the oil market. An economic recovery means increased demand for crude oil and price rise, he suggested.
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