US not concerned by any new OPEC output cut: Brouillette

The US is not concerned by moves being considered by OPEC and its allied producers to curb oil production further, US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said on Tuesday.

A technical panel that advises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Russia, have proposed an additional output cut of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), three sources told Reuters last week.

OPEC is meeting next month in Vienna.

The group of producers, known as OPEC+, has already been implementing cuts of 1.2 million bpd since January 2019 to reduce the global supply glut and prop up crude prices.

“We’re not concerned about the decision that OPEC may make and whatever decision they make will be good for them and we appreciate what they’re doing,” Brouillette told reporters on the sidelines of a conference at the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s headquarters in Vienna.

“They’re going to meet and they’re going to make a determination and a decision that’s best suited for them but I think their ability to impact oil prices in the manner in which they did, you know, three, four, five decades ago is just fundamentally different,” Brouillette said.