Energy Minister: Azerbaijan supports measures to stabilize world oil market
Cooperation within OPEC+ remains important to this day, especially in the context of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said in an interview with Russia’s Neftegazovaya Vertikal magazine.
According to him, this cooperation not only serves the interests of oil producers and exporters who signed the agreement but also plays a vital role in ensuring balance in the world oil market: “Thanks to cooperation within OPEC+, a certain balance has been created in the world market, along with a relatively acceptable price level for oil-producing countries.”
The Minister noted that Azerbaijan actively participates in the course of this format: “Azerbaijan decided to ratify the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ on April 12, 2020, at the 10th meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers to reduce daily oil production in three stages.”
Shahbazov believes that there is no doubt about the correctness of the decisions and steps taken in the OPEC + format: “Azerbaijan supports measures to stabilize the world oil market, is an active participant, and plans to continue actively participation in the consultation process to reach a consensus between the OPEC+ countries.”
The new “Declaration of Cooperation” envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by another 7,000 barrels in October to 640,000 barrels, and the reduction commitment will be at 78,000 barrels.
At the 20th meeting of the Ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-member countries, following the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ adopted in July, Azerbaijan also expressed support for increasing daily oil production by 400,000 barrels in October.
As long as this decision is in force, Azerbaijan will be able to increase its daily crude oil production by about 7,000 barrels per month and, accordingly, reduce its commitment to output cuts.
The next meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers will be held on October 4, 2021.