Equatorial Guinea’s Hydrocarbons Minister Wants OPEC+ To Proceed With Easing Cuts to 7.7mbd

The group of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers should proceed with easing production cuts to 7.7 million barrels a day starting in July, Equatorial Guinea’s minister of mines and hydrocarbons, Gabriel M. Obiang, said.

Obiang told Sputnik in an interview that the volume of reduction would depend on the outcome of upcoming meetings. On April 12, OPEC+ agreed to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day from May-June.

Under the deal, the output will be reduced by 7.7 million barrels per day from July until the end of 2020, and by 5.8 million barrels daily from January 2021 to April 2022.

However, sources have told Sputnik that the current decrease could be extended.“Yes. But everything will depend on the meeting,” Obiang said when asked if the producers should stick to the April agreements on easing the cuts starting in July.

He added that there was “no need for more cuts.”The minister noted that Equatorial Guinea, as a member of OPEC, would look into the recommendations of the cartel on the future cuts, as the OPEC Secretariat was responsible for monitoring supply and demand.

“I think it’s better to wait for the full monitoring. And we do recognise that in summer there could be more activity, there is more easing of the lockdown, there is much more movement.

“The airline industry is definitely going to be critical. If the airline business really takes off, that could be a game-changer.

“But if we still have that restriction that we are having, we’ll probably be forced to continue cuts in production, because it’s definitely the only alternative that we will have.

“We don’t have the place in storages, and we don’t have a place to sell it,” Obiang underlined.The OPEC+ countries are expected to meet next week to discuss the situation on the market and whether they should proceed with the 7.7 mbd cut starting in July or if the figure needs some adjustment.

However, it is still not clear whether the OPEC+ meeting will take place from June 9-10 or will be pushed to an earlier date.