OPEC+ cuts ‘enough’ to balance oil markets: UAE Energy Minister

OPEC+ pact on reducing 1.2 million barrels per day (mbd) is "enough to balance the market", UAE oil minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Wednesday.

"OPEC+ are seeing a decline in production," he told an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, adding the US-China trade dispute, rising US shale production and geopolitics are the biggest challenges.

OPEC agreed to trim its output by 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), while Russia and the allied producers agreed to cut production by 400,000 bpd.

Additionally, he said that OPEC is “not playing a political game,” with oil production but “always does the right thing”.

“We’re not playing with President (Donald) Trump or any other president,” he told CNBC.

“I think what we do is we hear them (the US). They are major consumers versus the major producing nations, we hear what they say but we will always do the right thing from our perspective which is always trying to maintain the balance (in supply and demand)."

Last year, the US president tweeted on several occasions calling upon OPEC not to restrict production in order to keep check on rising crude prices.

Meanwhile, the minister told Gulf Intelligence that he has stopped following oil prices as  it is not practical, suggesting the need to balance markets to reach an appropriate price for both the producer and consumer.