OPEC Pres: Output Cut is Unlikely This Year

OPEC President Edmund Daukoru said Friday that it was highly unlikely that the oil-producer group would cut its output this year, given the prevailing prices and global political backdrop.

OPEC says it has 2 million b/d of spare oil capacity, though in its latest monthly oil report the International Energy Agency said usable spare capacity is 1.7 million b/d, or some 2% of global demand, adding “there are market-related constraints facing some Middle Eastern producers” of harder-to-refine heavy, sulfur-rich crudes “which prevent output reaching capacity levels.”

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