Historic OPEC Algiers Meeting: One Year Anniversary

Today (September 28, 2017) marks the first anniversary of the historic 170^th (Extraordinary) Meeting of the OPEC Conference that took place in Algiers, Algeria. Here, the OPEC Conference opted for an OPEC-14 production adjustment ranging between 32.5 and 33 million barrels a day (mb/d), in order to accelerate and bring the market rebalancing forward.

The decision reaffirmed OPEC’s continued commitment to stable markets, in the interests of both producers and consumers. It was also a prelude to a process of extensive consultations between OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing countries, to establish a platform to take proactive measures that would ensure a balanced oil market on a sustainable basis.

These eventually led to the decisions taken at the 171^st Meeting of the OPEC Conference on November 30, 2016, and the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries on December 10, 2016, whereby 24 participating sovereign nations decided to adjust production by approximately 1.8 mb/d, for a period of six months, beginning January 1. This has since been extended by a further period of nine months, to the end of March 2018.

These developments were an unprecedented commitment from participating sovereign nations, and have been possible through the efforts of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) and the Joint Technical Committee (JTC), which has been supported by the OPEC Secretariat. The Secretariat has been involved in organizing five JMMC, and eight JTC meetings, the 2^nd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial meeting, the OPEC and non-OPEC Technical Meeting, as well as other various related activities. This has included further cooperation at the technical level, as well as a further expansion of dialogue and cooperation with other industry stakeholders.

The OPEC Secretary General, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, said: “One year on from the seminal Algiers meeting, the work of the OPEC Secretariat has been transformed. It has never been so busy and demanding, but there is no doubt that all the exertions have been worth it. There are clear signs that the market is rebalancing. However, now is not the time to let up. The Secretariat and its staff remain committed to fully achieving the goals and objectives of the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’.”