AFP |
Oil supplies were sufficient and stockpiles were still rising despite massive output drops from Iran and Venezuela, said OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and key producer UAE on Sunday, as oil exporters met in Jeddah. Producer nations discussed how to stabilize a volatile oil market amid rising US-Iran tensions in the Gulf, which threaten to disrupt global supply.
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But “we see that (oil) inventories are rising and supplies are plenty,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters at the start the meeting. “None of us wants to see the (oil) stocks swell again,” he added, with reference to a supply surplus that sent prices sharply lower in the second half of last year.
“We have to be cautious,” Falih said. The UAE’s energy minister said there was no need to relax a deal by the OPEC+ group of oil exporting countries to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day to support prices. “We have seen inventory building. I don’t think it makes sense” to alter the existing deal, said Suheil al-Mazrouei.
Outcome of meeting between Oil giants
At the end of the meeting, Falih told a news conference the OPEC+ nations were “unanimous in continuing to work to achieve stability between supply and demand”. The meeting “affirmed its commitment to achieving a balanced market and working towards oil market stability,” said a statement issued at the end of the gathering.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait in case of war with the US, which said this month it was sending an aircraft carrier and strike group to the region
The statement said member states’ conformity to production cuts hit a record 168 percent in April and an average of 120 percent since the start of the year. The meeting comes days after sabotage attacks against tankers in highly sensitive Gulf waters and the bombing of a Saudi pipeline – the latter claimed by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels.
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But Falih reiterated Sunday that the kingdom’s oil installations were well protected. “We have strong (oil) industry security”, he told reporters. “Everybody is vulnerable to extreme acts of sabotage.” The meeting also comes as the full impact of re-instated US sanctions against Iran kicks in, slashing the Islamic Republic’s crude exports.
Iran exports tumble
Falih, however, cast doubt on reports that oil exports by Iran – which did not send a representative to the meeting – dropped sharply. “Nobody knows, it’s highly speculative and uncertain what Iran is exporting, there is a lot of oil leaving Iran shores and waters,” he said.
Massive drops in exports by Iran and Venezuela (due to rising tensions) come alongside output cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day implemented by the OPEC+ group since January. The International Energy Agency said last week Iranian crude production fell in April to 2.6 million bpd, down from 3.9 million bpd before sanctions were re-instated.
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Iran’s output is already at its lowest level in over five years but could tumble in May to levels not seen since the devastating 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Venezuela’s output – also subject to US export sanctions – is also tumbling, down by over half since the third quarter of last year.
But exporters fear a rush to raise production to plug the gap left by Iranian exports could backfire, triggering a new supply glut.
Gulf Tensions
The meeting was held amid soaring Gulf tensions after the mysterious sabotage of several tankers off the Emirati coast and drone attacks claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Huthi rebels, which shut a key Saudi crude pipeline. Both attacks targeted routes built as alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for almost all Gulf exports.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait in case of war with the US, which said this month it was sending an aircraft carrier and strike group to the region. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of ordering the pipeline attacks, targeting “the security of oil supplies and the global economy”.
Saudi foreign affairs minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday his country does not want war with Iran, but was ready to defend its interests. Riyadh “does not want a war, is not looking for it and will do everything to prevent it”, he told journalists in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia called Saturday for urgent meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions, government news agency SPA said. It also said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had spoken with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about enhancing security in the region.
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The US Fifth Fleet headquartered in Bahrain said the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council began on Saturday “enhanced security patrols” in international waters in “tight coordination with the US Navy”. Falih had said last month the kingdom was ready to boost supplies in case of any shortage caused by the Iran embargo.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said Washington’s stated aim of bringing Iran’s oil exports “to zero” amounts to “an illusion”.
AFP story with additional input by GVS news desk