OPEC says ‘balanced oil market’ remains its focus
…Reports 168% conformity rate to cuts in April
Following the 14th meeting of its Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, JMMC, on Sunday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, reaffirmed its commitment to achieving a balanced market and working towards oil market stability on a sustainable basis with solid fundamentals.
The JMMC expressed its satisfaction regarding the role which the Declaration of Cooperation, DoC, played in the oil market recovery seen in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, supported by high conformity to the voluntary production adjustments by participating countries.
Conformity for the month of April 2019 was 168%, and this record figure, OPEC said, has also had positive ramifications for global economic growth in the first four months of 2019. Average conformity has reached 120% since January 2019.
The Committee noted that an agile and flexible approach has been critical to the success of the DoC to date, and will be key going forward.
Since the DoC was signed on December 10, 2016, the partners have been able to adapt course depending on market conditions.
“When the market appeared skewed to oversupply, voluntary production adjustments were adopted and implemented, as was the case in December 2016 and December 2018. Equally, when concerns regarding demand outpacing supply surfaced as the market tightened, as was the case in June 2018, partners in the DoC took appropriate action”, OPEC committee said in a statement.
In analysing current oil market conditions and macroeconomic developments, the committee said it also recognised that critical uncertainties remain, including ongoing trade negotiations, monetary policy developments and geopolitical challenges.
The JMMC requested that the OPEC Joint Technical Committee and the OPEC Secretariat continue to monitor and analyse oil market developments and, particularly, oil inventory projections in the coming weeks with a view to the next JMMC meeting making a recommendation to the OPEC Conference and OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, which is scheduled to meet in June 2019, on appropriate actions on the part of participating countries for the second half of 2019.
The 15th JMMC Meeting is scheduled to take place in June 2019 at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria.
SOURCE: sweetcrudereports.com
