Mohammed Barkindo
BAKU, Mar 17 (Reuters): Saudi Arabia's energy minister said on Sunday he was optimistic about continued commitment to the oil supply cut agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC members.
"I am obviously optimistic that implementation of our OPEC+ agreement will improve, it's already strong by historical standards," Khalid al-Falih said on the sidelines of the joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting in Baku.
Overall conformity with the cuts in the first two months of this year are less than levels seen in 2017 and 2018 but the oil producers "will catch up very soon," he told reporters.
Saudi Arabia along with other oil producers such as Azerbaijan will continue to work together to manage oil market stability, he said.
"We will not allow energy security to be challenged by any event, but at the same time we will not leave investors, and oil and gas companies to stay bewildered not knowing what tomorrow is going to bring in terms of stable environment where investments can flow to the sector," he told reporters.
Another report says: The investments needed to ensure stability in the global oil industry are returning after a downturn, but the pace is still slow, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said.
Barkindo was talking to Reuters and an Azeri TV station Real on the sidelines of an OPEC and non-OPEC monitoring committee, which is meeting this weekend in the Azeri capital of Baku.
He also said leading oil producing nations have made significant achievements in terms of cooperation and efforts to avoid imbalance between the supply and demand on the global oil market.
Barkindo added he would welcome greater engagement with the United States (US) to tackle industry issues.
According to estimates from Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser last year, the global oil and gas industry needs to invest more than $20 trillion over the next 25 years to meet expected growth in demand and compensate for the natural decline in developed fields.
"A number of challenges are arising from the down cycle that we have seen, and at the top of that list is an issue of investments. We have seen investments contract for couple of years and even at the moment the rebound is very, very minimal," Barkindo said.
"For the long cycle projects, which are the base for the global economy, the picture is still not encouraging. Therefore we welcome the United States to join us in this global energy dialogue to address this and other issues affecting this industry."
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other large oil producers led by Russia have agreed on joint efforts to curb their oil production in order to restore the balance on the global oil market and support the price.
The first such deal was signed at the end of 2016 in Vienna.
"We remain on course and we have made significant progress in ensuring that we do not allow the market to return to an imbalance," Barkindo said, speaking in English.
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