Oil market likely to rebalance in early 2019
(VOVWORLD) -Oil ministers from the leading OPEC nations said Sunday they expect prices will arrest their recent slide and rebalance early next year, when a deal on new production cuts takes effect.
Oil prices have shed more than 36 percent since early October to trade at 54 USD per barrel, due to fears of oversupply and weak global demand.
But president of OPEC and UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said the surplus in the oil market is small compared to 2017 and he expects it to vanish in one or two months.
Iraq's Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadhban said there is a consensus among OPEC and non-OPEC producers to comply with the new agreement to trim output in a bid to stabilize the market. He said the new agreement is valid for six months and the ministers will meet in April to assess the impact of the cuts. Ghadhban said he believes the new steps being taken by producers will "stop the slide in oil prices."