Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
US participation in the OPEC discussion to cut the oil output is out of the question, Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), a Washington based think tank focused on energy security, and a senior adviser to the United States Energy Security Council, told Trend Oct.25.
The reason is that from Saudi Arabia’s perspective, the US oil industry is the enemy that needs to be defeated, he said.
He pointed out that the entire strategy of Saudi Arabia so far has been to keep the oil prices low enough for long enough to drive US shale producers into bankruptcy.
“This strategy seems to be working, but not as fast as the Saudis had expected. As long as the interests of the two countries are diametrically opposed, there is no ground for dialogue,” Luft added.
Earlier, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said that the organization will decide on whether to invite the US to its November 30 meeting in Vienna after the US presidential election.
However, later, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that the US will not participate in any agreements related to oil production.
In September, OPEC producers agreed during the informal meeting in Algiers to cut down the oil output to 32.5 million barrels per day (bpd) from current production of 33.24 million bpd.
How much each country will produce is to be decided at the next formal meeting of OPEC in November.
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