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The United Arab Emirates said there was no need for OPEC+ to increase oil production any faster, despite pressure from major consumers such as the U.S. and Japan for the group to help ease gasoline prices.
“There is no logic to increasing our contribution,” UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said to reporters on Tuesday in Dubai. “I don’t think we are changing the plan.”
The minister did not specify if he would agree to OPEC+ slowing its output increases should the U.S. and others announced a sale of their strategic petroleum reserves in a bid to lower gasoline prices.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners including Russia next meet on Dec. 2. The group is raising daily output by 400,000 barrels each month, but has said it will be flexible and can move slower or faster depending on demand.
Mazrouei reiterated his belief that the oil market will switch from a supply deficit to a surplus in the first quarter of next year.
He and his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Abdulaziz bin Salman, have said OPEC+ shouldn’t be more aggressive with its supply increases because the coronavirus pandemic could still sap consumption.
While Brent crude has climbed more than 50 per cent this year to around US$79 a barrel, it has fallen for the past four weeks. That’s mainly because of a surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe and the U.S. saying it is considering a release of oil reserves.
“We are going to meet on the 2nd and we will look at the facts,” Mazrouei said. “We’ll look at the volumes on the market and we will take the decision based on those facts.”
