OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo, other OPEC officials will meet with US shale companies in Houston to talk about the global oil glut. OPEC photo.
Rising US shale production helped boost overall US output to over 10 million b/d
Reuters reports the secretary general of OPEC along with other cartel officials will meet with US shale firms in Houston next Monday to discuss ways to reduce the global glut of crude oil.
According to the report, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo will be at the meeting along with chief executives from a number of US shale companies.
The meeting will be held on the first day of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, a yearly international gathering of energy industry leaders.
At this time last year, OPEC held unprecedented talks with fund executives and shale companies at the sidelines of conference.
“Shale has dramatically changed the world’s perception of fossil fuels,” the chief executive of one shale company told Reuters. The official, who declined to be identified by name, added “We now have a seat at the table on pricing.”
The United States oil industry is not participating in the OPEC supply cut agreement because the US private producers could be sued for collusion if they join the pact.
OPEC’s agreement has cut production by participants overall by 1.8 million barrels per day (b/d). While the cartel and its non-member partners have cut their output, US production has risen to over 10 million b/d and the International Energy Agency forecasts the US will overtake Russia as the world’s biggest oil producer next year at the latest.
Despite the rising US output, OPEC officials say they are not concerned about the surge in US shale production kneecapping its efforts. But, the cartel is urging shale producers to help reduce the global oversupply.
“It’s normal for shale oil, tight oil to increase in 2018 and whenever oil prices support it,” Reuters reports Iraq’s national representative to OPEC, Ali Nazar, said at an event in Berlin on Tuesday.
“But we all should look with responsibility to the market in order to keep the balance in the market as much as we can so as not to harm investors.”
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