OPEC struggles to halt price sag but with mixed results

PARIS (AFP) – OPEC oil producers are next month likely to back a fresh production cut, the cartel’s president said in an interview, as a recent move to lower output ceilings has so far failed to stem a slide in crude prices.

“I have no doubt that there is going to be a cut in supply,” Nigerian Oil Minister and OPEC President Edmond Daukoru told the newspaper This Day in Nigeria.

“We really need to make a statement to the market,” he said, adding that he expected a “reasonable level of compliance” by producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

“Many OPEC member states believe that if you don’t sell your commodity, the best thing to do is to keep it, that is, in the ground rather than give it to someone else to stock up and use it to drive your price down,” he told the paper after meeting with ambassadors from OPEC members.

AFP