APS : Sunday, 01 July 2018
WASHINGTON-OPEC member countries and Russia should maintain the Algiers Pact so that oil price continues to ramp up, said Sonatrach CEO Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour.
“We are working to maintain this agreement. A fall in the barrel’s price does not serve the interests of producers,” Ould Kaddour told APS ahead of the World Gas Conference 2018.
The leader of the state-owned oil group argued that it was difficult to anticipate how the market would integrate possible increases in crude oil from major producers, with reference to Saudi Arabia, OPEC leader, and Russia.
Commenting on the latest developments on the world oil scene, Ould Kaddour said: “we do not know how the market will react but prices will surely decrease.”
And if prices are still on the rise even after OPEC’s recent decision to up output by one million barrels, it is because this additional offer will compensate for the decline in Venezuelan and Libyan production, he explained.
“The Vienna meeting sought to maintain production. Since Venezuela and Libya failed to produce, OPEC countries decided to increase their output by one million barrels to compensate,” said Ould Kaddour.
“This is why prices stand at the same level” as before, noted Sonatrach’s CEO.
An increase proposal will be considered at the next meeting of the OPEC/Non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) scheduled for September in Algiers.
But before studying this proposal, “the situation will be assessed to ensure that there is a need to increase supply on the market,” stated Ould Kaddour.
