OPEC deal contributed in addressing oil market challenges: Secretary general

OPEC Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais said the group’s agreement to reduce production has helped address challenges facing global oil markets, Iraq’s oil ministry quoted him as saying on Tuesday.

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Al-Ghais, who is on a visit to Baghdad, added that OPEC’s most important target is to achieve stability and balance between supply and demand.

Last November, with oil prices weakening, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), together with Russia and other allies - a group known as OPEC+ - reduced its output target by 2 million bpd.

That was the largest cut since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the same reduction applies for the whole of 2023.

“The OPEC agreement is one of the most important historical decisions taken by the members of the organization to face the various challenges faced by the global oil markets,” al-Ghais said according to the ministry.

Al-Ghais is visiting Iraq as the country prepares to celebrate later this year the 60th anniversary of the founding of the organization in Baghdad in 1960. The celebration was delayed several times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the oil ministry said.

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