Non-OPEC NEWS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday there was a risk of non-OPEC+ oil producers increasing output due to higher oil prices and that oil market demand was gradually being restored.In televised comments at a meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin, Novak said the oil market was stable now and that Russia would raise output in April due to an improved situation with the pandemic.

The Russian energy ministry informed that Energy Minister of Russia, Alexander Novak had a discussion on the oil output cap with Bijan Zanganeh, Energy Minister of Iran. This discussion was held during a meeting in Moscow on Monday. Not giving much details, the Russian Ministry said that both the nations talked about the chances of further oil output regulations.

Addressing current industry issues, Alexander Novak, Russian Energy Minister has allegedly claimed that US is responsible for the turbulence created in the global oil market. Further, he urged the OPEC and non-OPEC producers to cooperate in order to reach stability. The sanctions and the trade wars imposed by some powers will have an impact on the global economy and therefore on the oil market,” he said.

If sources were to be believed, the Joint Technical Committee of OPEC and non-OPEC will meet this Sept 17 to decide on the distribution of the agreed boost in oil production. Proposals on how to distribute the increase have come from Iran, Algeria, Russia and Venezuela. Elevation in the oil production was decided in June to ease supply curbs, when the cartel met in Vienna.

With the significant improvement in oil prices, the Energy Minister of Qatar has demanded all the oil-producing countries to increase their investment in the oil and gas sector. Foreseeing the impact of inadequate investment, he said that now is the time to ensure secure oil supplies. According to the minister, setting particular targets can hamper the market growth and hence, he is not in favour of this idea.

OPEC yesterday released its monthly report with a forecast of slip in global crude oil demand growth in 2019, based on initial projections. Global oil demand is expected to grow by an average of 1.45m bbl/day in 2019 on the back of 3.6% of expected global GDP growth. Assumptions are made that non-OPEC supply will grow by 2.1m bbl/day during next year.

Although the OPEC meeting in 2011 has been said to be the worst one in the history, speculations are now made that the upcoming OPEC+ meeting on June 22nd might be one of the most fractious in recent times with multiple agendas on the table to be addressed. While Saudi Arabia and Russia are reportedly geared up to increase the oil output, Iran and Iraq are opposing the move.