TheCable

Mohammad Barkindo, secretary general of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), met with Sabah Al-Sabah, emir of Kuwait, on Wednesday to discuss oil market stability.

Also in attendance were other Kuwaiti officials — Anas Al-Saleh, the deputy prime minister and minister of state for cabinet affairs; Haitham Al-Ghais, the country’s governor to OPEC and Bakheet Al-Rashidi, minister of oil, electricity and water.

OPEC, in a news release, said the meeting was to focus on the joint ministerial monitoring committee (JMMC) that has been tasked with the oversight responsibility for the implementation of voluntary oil production adjustments.

Technical discussions on the JMMC bordered on the framework for oversight, compliance monitoring mechanism and other related issues that will be analysed at the next JMMC meeting to be held in Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman, on January 21.

In his remarks, Barkindo said that the choice of Kuwait as the chair of the JMMC reflected on both the country’s respected position and status as a leading player in the global oil industry.

Discussions centred on the “Vienna Agreement” reached by OPEC member countries on November 30, 2016, and the “Declaration of Cooperation” between OPEC and participating non-OPEC oil producing countries at a JMMC meeting in December 2016.

Al-Sabah commended Barkindo on successful meetings recently carried out between OPEC member countries and non-OPEC nations.

He urged all participating countries to work together toward a strategy for sustainable market stability and to avoid a relapse into the damaging oil market volatility that was witnessed in 2015 and 2016.