…Raises hope for market stability

By Eyo Nsima

There are indications that oil market would continue to witness stability as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and non-OPEC member States, have already withdrawn 2.1 billion barrels of excess oil in the past nine months.

This was contained in a statement obtained by The Daily, www.thedaily-ng.com, from OPEC at the end of its 26th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) took place via videoconference on Wednesday, 3 February 2021, under the Chairmanship of HRH Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, and Co-Chair HE Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

The organisation, stated: “The Committee further noted that DoC participants pledged to achieve full conformity and make up for previous compensation short-falls, and stressed the importance of accelerating market rebalancing without delay. The progress of Nigeria in this respect was well noted.

“The Committee observed that in December 2020, stocks in OECD countries had fallen for the fifth consecutive month. The Committee observed that, while economic prospects and oil demand would remain uncertain in the coming months, the gradual rollout of vaccines around the world is a positive factor for the rest of the year, boosting the global economy and oil demand.

“The Committee reminded all Participating Countries to remain vigilant and flexible given the uncertain market conditions, and to stay on the course, which has hitherto reaped rewards. The Committee thanked the JTC and the OPEC Secretariat for their contributions to the meeting. The next meeting of the JMMC is scheduled for 3 March 2021.”

It also stated: “The Committee emphasized the ongoing positive contributions of the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) in supporting a rebalancing of the global oil market in line with the historic decisions taken at the 10th (Extraordinary) OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on 12 April 2020 to adjust downwards overall crude oil production, and the unanimous decisions taken at the 179th Meeting of the OPEC Conference and the 11th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on 6 June 2020.

“The Committee noted, with gratitude, the significant additional voluntary supply adjustment made by Saudi Arabia, taking effect on 1 February 2021 for two months, exemplifying its leadership, and the need for a flexible and pre-emptive approach by all DoC members.”

It also added: “The Committee reviewed the monthly report prepared by the Joint Technical Committee (JTC), including the crude oil production data for the month of December 2020. The Committee welcomed the positive performance of Participating Countries. Overall conformity with the original production adjustments was 101 per cent, reinforcing the trend of high compliance by Participating Countries.”