Opec heavyweight Saudi Arabia said last week it was ready to cooperate with other producers to stabilise the oil market and support prices

AFP
Kuwait City


Saudi-led Gulf Opec members will reject pressure to shoulder the cost of cutting oil production alone despite warnings that prices risk sliding further, officials and analysts say.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar, which pump more than half of Opec’s 32mn barrels of daily output, want a solid commitment from all other producers, especially non-Opec member Russia, to agree to production cuts across the board.
“Gulf states will not undertake a unilateral output cut. They need strong cooperation from other producers, mainly Russia, to cut,” Kuwaiti oil analyst Kamel al-Harami told AFP.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is to hold a crucial meeting on December 4 to study prices, which have fallen around 60% since mid-2014.
An informal meeting to be attended by some non-Opec producers will be held the day before.
“Gulf producers are not inclined to change their policy of defending market share rather than price despite heavy income losses,” Saudi economist Abdulwahab Abu-Dahesh said. “They realise they will be asked to bear the bulk of any cuts,” as none of the other Opec members are financially in a position to do so and non-Opec Russia has so far said it will not, Abu-Dahesh told AFP. A senior Gulf oil official said nothing has changed to alter Gulf states’ oil policy.
“No indicators or changes have happened to convince Gulf states to change their policy and cut output,” the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
But another Gulf official hinted at some flexibility in case of co-operation.
“It’s too early to say if Opec would maintain its production policy,” said the official, who also wished to remain anonymous.
Opec heavyweight Saudi Arabia said last week it was ready to cooperate with other producers to stabilise the oil market and support prices.  
The Opec meeting comes at a time of a massive production glut, with oversupply continuing and inventories at almost record levels of more than 3.0bn barrels, triple the normal rate.
Opec member Venezuela and some international economic reports have warned that the oil price could slide to the range of $20-$30 a barrel from around $42 now if output is not trimmed.
Abu-Dahesh said Gulf states are betting on developments indicating a balanced oil market next year after Opec’s strategy knocked out some high-cost production, such as some US shale oil.
Opec secretary general Abdullah El-Badri said in October he was confident the oil market will pick up in 2016 due to a growth in demand and a drop in non-Opec output.
He said the glut was caused by a 6mn bpd increase from non-Opec members over the past five years and that this has started to contract.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told an energy conference in Bahrain on November 19 that, despite oversupply, the world still needs 5.0mn bpd of new output, 4mn of that due to natural decline.
Bassam Fattouh, director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, told the same conference the market rebalancing process has started but the effect on prices will be slow.
The International Energy Agency said this month that growth in demand for crude is set to slow next year as the allure of cheap oil fades.
The IEA expects demand to grow by 1.2mn bpd in 2016, down from 1.8mn bpd this year.
Al-Harami believes oil prices will remain low for at least the next two years until the global economy picks up.
By then, falls in high-cost oil production will make way for Opec crude, al-Harami said.
Massive cuts in oil investments will also help slow production, he said.
Saudi Arabia said this month that more than $200bn worth of energy projects worldwide had been cancelled this year and more cancellations were expected in 2016.
Despite economic woes and major revenue losses due to low oil prices, the Gulf states have a huge fiscal cushion to rely on.
“Gulf states can bear the downturn for another three years enough for their oil policy to achieve targets,” Abu-Dahesh said.