Minister Aliyev to participate in OPEC meeting in Vienna
By Kamila Aliyeva
Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natig Aliyev will participate in the 172nd meeting of the Council of Ministers of OPEC countries and non-cartel countries in Vienna.
Given the importance of Azerbaijan's direct participation in measures to stabilize oil prices and its leading role in them, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo, as well as the head of the joint OPEC Monitoring Committee, Kuwait's oil minister Issam Al-Marzuk appealed to Natig Aliyev with a proposal to join the meeting scheduled for May 23-25, the energy ministry reported on May 19.
The meeting participants will hear a report on an analysis of the impact of oil output cut deal on the international market, market trends and the pace of economic development. On the basis of this report, the Vienna agreement will be extended or a different decision will be taken.
Natig Aliyev himself believes that the Vienna agreement concluded last December between the Cartel and non-OPEC countries, is historic, according to the ministry.
“For the first time, the unified position of oil producing and exporting countries, regardless of their share and weight in the world market, provided a successful outcome of the agreement in the first half of the year. The process of stabilizing the oil market and current prices for the crude, fulfillment of obligations by oil nations showed the correctness of this decision,” he said.
Aliyev also underlined Azerbaijan’s readiness to further take steps for achieving stable oil prices.
In December 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices.
Non-OPEC producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 bpd starting from January 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months, to take into account prevailing market conditions and prospects.
The participation of Azerbaijan in joint oil production cuts is defined at 35,000 barrels per day.
Prior to the landmark deal, the volume of production in the country was at the level of 37.72 million tons of oil, while daily output stood at 829,100 barrels.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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