OPEC cut 40% more in Feb than pledged in oil deal

Kuwait oil minister Essam Al-Marzouq said on Wednesday that OPEC’s compliance with an oil output cut reached last year stood at 140 per cent in February, while non-OPEC members compliance was 50-60 per cent.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut its output by about 1.2 million bpd from January 1 to prop up oil prices and reduce a supply glut.

Marzouq attributed the high compliance rate by OPEC members to a deep production cut by Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia has voluntarily cut by more than its share to increase confidence in the output reduction issue (agreement),” he told journalists in Kuwait.

He described OPEC’s compliance as “excellent” and that of the non-OPEC members as “acceptable”, adding that there was satisfaction by OPEC members with the current prices, which he described as “stable”.

Kuwait is scheduled to host a ministerial meeting on March 26 comprising both OPEC and non-OPEC members to review compliance with the output agreement, the second such meeting since the deal was reached.

Marzouq said that the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria and Venezuela will attend the meeting, along with the OPEC secretary general.