OPEC, allies to announce exit strategy from supply cuts in June

OPEC and non-member oil producers plan to announce in June an exit strategy from their ongoing oil supply cuts, United Arab Emirates energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Monday, cited by Reuters.

It is premature to talk about the form or the shape of such a strategy before June, when OPEC and other oil producers participating in the pact are due to meet next, the minister told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

“We will announce…a strategy in the June meeting. That does not mean we will exit in June. That means we will come up with a strategy,” he was quoted as saying.

“Hopefully the market will be in a much better position for us to come and announce an exit strategy,” Al Mazrouei added.

The UAE will hold the OPEC presidency in 2018.

Kuwaiti oil minister Essam al-Marzouq  on Sunday said that OPEC and other oil producers will examine the possibility of a strategy to exit their output cut pact by June next year.

OPEC and a group of non-member oil producers, led by Russia, have agreed to extend until the end of 2018 their agreement to cut oil production by a combined 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd).

The cartel’s next meeting is in June, while the joint ministerial monitoring committee (JMMC) meets next month in Oman.