2018-11-12
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Faleh said on Monday that OPEC and its allies agreed that technical analysis shows the need to balance the market by cutting next year's oil supply by about 1 million bpd compared to October levels.
 
Demand for Saudi customers in December will fall by more than half a million barrels per day (bpd) compared to November and there is consensus that stockpiles should not be allowed to increase, he said on an industry event in Abu Dhabi.
 
The Wall Street Journal quoted well-informed sources on Thursday as saying that the most important research center funded by the Saudi government was studying the possible impact on the oil markets of the disintegration of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
 
Al-Falih said the research center was only trying to "think outside the box" and analyze all perceptions, and that the Saudi leadership "is not thinking of canceling OPEC at all."
 
Al-Falih said on Sunday that his country plans to cut its oil supply to the world markets by 500,000 barrels per day in December, while OPEC faces ambiguous prospects in its attempts to convince other producers to agree to cut production coordinator.
 
Al-Falih told reporters that Saudi Aramco's crude oil allocations to its customers would fall 500,000 bpd in December compared to November due to a seasonal drop in demand. That means a cut in world oil supplies by about 0.5 percent.