Current OPEC+ support sufficient for now: UAE Minister

Current actions by OPEC+ to support the oil market are sufficient for now, UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Friday, but the group is “only a phone call away” if any further steps are needed.

OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, pumps around 40 percent of the world’s crude.

“What we are doing is sufficient as we say today,” the UAE minister told Reuters on a visit to New Delhi.

“But we are constantly meeting and if there is a requirement to do anything else then during those meetings, we will pick it up. We are always a phone call away from each other.”

At its last policy meeting, held in June, OPEC+ agreed on a broad deal to limit supply into 2024 and Saudi Arabia pledged a voluntary production cut for July that it has since extended to include August.

Oil prices have found some support from evidence of tightening supplies, with Brent crude trading above $80 a barrel on Friday, up from near $71 in late June.

The next OPEC+ policy meeting is not until November, although a panel of key ministers holds a meeting on Aug. 4 to review the market.

The UAE minster said he was not worried about oil demand and described limited investment as the “biggest challenge.”

“We know how expensive it is to invest, and no-one other than (a) few countries are investing and increasing their capacity,” he said.

The UAE is among the few OPEC members with sizeable unused oil production capacity. At the June OPEC+ meeting it received a higher production target for 2024 while a number of others had theirs reduced.

A mechanism for monitoring Russian output will be further developed, the minister added, with OPEC’s headquarters.