Saudi energy minister says ‘flexible’ on OPEC oil pact

Saudi Energy Minister Khaled al-Falih said on Tuesday that there was flexibility and options were open on an OPEC-led oil output reduction agreement.

Falih, who holds the rotating presidency of OPEC, said monitoring was under way on compliance with the deal but he was satisfied and focused on everyone working together.

“We are very flexible, we are keeping our options open. We are determined to do whatever it takes to bring global inventories down to the normal level which we say is the 5-year average,” Falih said, adding that work remains to be done.

“We have reduced the inventories by over 180 million barrels and we still have about 160 million barrels according to numbers I have seen last,” he told Reuters at an investment conference in Riyadh.

Falih added that oil investment had returned after the OPEC-led pact to reduce supply began in January and the recovery of the global economy.

There was consensus, he said, to continue until targets were reached to balance the market but shocks to the market by reducing more than needed should be avoided.