A joint OPEC, non-OPEC monitoring ministerial committee on Thursday, August 24, it was confident the oil market was moving in the right direction but that all options, including an extension to the supply-cut pact beyond March, were open to ensure market stability.
“Oil commercial stocks fell in July and the latest five-year average has been reduced from the beginning of this year. Supported by the narrowing Contango, floating storage has also been on a declining trend since June,” the committee, known as JMMC, said in a statement.
“The JMMC will continue to monitor other factors in the oil market and their influence on the ongoing market rebalancing process. All options, including the possible extension … beyond Q1 of 2018, are left open to ensure that all efforts are made to rebalance the market.”
The next JMMC meeting will be held in Vienna on Sept. 22, and the committee plans to invite Libya and Nigeria – both exempt from the output reduction pact – to the next meeting of the ministerial or the technical joint panels, it said.
