The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, also known as OPEC, is expected to keep oil production cuts in place for another nine months in an effort to balance the market with demand and keep prices on the high side.
“Over the past 30 months or so we have had significant success in bringing down inventory levels, returning relative balance to the market, and helping evolve a more sustainability stability, in the interests of producers, consumers, and the global economy,” said Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, president of the OPEC conference and Venezuela’s oil minister, in opening the meeting at its 176th conference in Vienna, Austria on Monday morning.
Quevedo said there are a number of “uncertainties” facing the cartel as it launches into the meeting, including a bearish market and the potential for slumping demand, as well as the rise of U.S. oil production and exports.
U.S.-China trade negotiations and elevated geopolitical tensions, such as with Iran, will also be factored into the decisions made at the meeting, he noted.
Any decision OPEC makes at the meeting would be ratified Wednesday.
Live: Welcome to the 176th meeting of the OPEC Conference taking place in Vienna now. #OPECMeeting Watch live coverage of the opening session via https://t.co/YbZlEUjGmk pic.twitter.com/4j3arPIfLG
— OPEC (@OPECSecretariat) July 1, 2019
