At first oil-cut meeting, Barkindo reveals how Putin encouraged him

Sanusi Barkindo, secretary general of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), says President Vladimir Putin encouraged him on the possibility of a workable oil deal.

Speaking on Saturday at the first meeting of the High-level Committee of the Algiers Accord (OPEC and non-OPEC Countries), Barkindo said such support is needed at critical times.

“I was very much encouraged by the statement made by Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation at the World Energy Congress on October the 10th in Istanbul,” Barkindo said.

“He stated that ‘Russia is ready to join joint measures on reducing the production of oil and invites other oil exporters to do so’. Such support is important at critical times like these.  It gives testimony to what some might think is only a narrow concern of a few countries.”

He said the landmark meeting is the result of the decision reached at the 170th extraordinary meeting of the OPEC Conference in Algeria last month.

“That agreement – now known as the Algiers Accord – set a production target for OPEC’s 14 Member Countries, ranging between 32.5 and 33 mb/d in order to accelerate the ongoing drawdown of the stock overhang and bring the rebalancing process forward.

“The Algiers Accord was truly a landmark achievement. It was a collective decision reached by consensus of all the OPEC-14 Member Countries.  It hindered a further slide in crude oil prices – which have since reversed direction – and also reduced volatility.  These were certainly positive and encouraging.

“However, the markets are still under pressure of oversupply as reflected in excess stocks.  The recovery process has taken far too long and we cannot risk delaying the adjustment any further.

“The Algiers Accord enabled a common platform for an effective action for us all and it should be implemented in a timely fashion. Anything short of implementation of this Accord could lead to the elongation of the rebalancing process with further deterioration of financial conditions and setbacks in investments extending into a third year, which would be unprecedented.

“Therefore, we should be calling for maximum commitment from all OPEC and non-OPEC countries in this regard and we should expect no less as this is our commitment, not only to our member countries but to the global community.

“Today’s meeting, therefore, comes at a critical time for the global oil market as we producers jointly put efforts into taking action for the sake of the ‘sustainable market stability’ we all desire.”