Oil market expected to rebalance in Q4, says Al-Falih

The oil market is expected to rebalance in Q4-2017 despite higher output from Libya and Nigeria as well as from shale oil producers, Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said.

In an interview with the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, he said global effort to reduce crude production since the beginning of this year is helping fundamentals to move toward the right direction.

Higher oil output from Libya and Nigeria will pose no threat as the level of increase from both countries is still within the limits set by the Algeria agreement of 500,000 barrels a day.

Al-Falih hoped that Libyans retain a healthy level of natural production, adding, “It isn’t suitable to weigh in on Libya to slow the pace of its production recovery.”

However, the agreed upon output cuts need time to have an impact on the market given a rise in oil inventories over the past few years.

Meanwhile, Al-Falih said that Saudi Arabia is planning to double gas production in coming years, to balance the mix of energy production.