A Desperate OPEC Asks US Shale For Help In Cutting Oil Output
While OPEC has been presenting an optimistic facade in recent months, repeating at every oppostunity that the global oil market is “rebalancing” and demand is rising, the oil production cartel made a rare slip today when it addressed what should not be named in public: US shale production. Speaking on Tuesday, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo called on U.S. shale oil producers to help curtail global oil supply, warning extraordinary measures might be needed next year to sustain the rebalanced market in the medium to long term. Which is odd because in every other public address by OPEC members, we hear precisely the opposite: that the market is already in a state of “healthy rebalancing” and… the oil production cut which was supposed to last until this past June may now be extended beyond March of 2018.
“We urge our friends, in the shale basins of North America to take this shared responsibility with all seriousness it deserves, as one of the key lessons learnt from the current unique supply-driven cycle,” said Barkindo quoted by Reuters during a speech delivered at the India Energy Forum organized by CERAWeek in New Delhi.
“At the moment we (OPEC and independent U.S. producers) both agreed that we have a shared responsibility in maintaining stability because they are also not insulated from the impact of this downturn,” Barkindo said, referring to a slide in oil prices that spurred OPEC to agree production cuts late last year. “The call by independents themselves (is) that we need to continue this interaction.”
Some independents… but not all, and certainly not the cas-flush US shale producers.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
