VIENNA: Oil prices rose on Monday to their highest in eight months as oil producers clear a supply glut that has weighed on crude prices for three years.
Brent futures traded above $58 a barrel on Monday, after major producers said at a meeting in Vienna on Friday that the global market was well on the way to rebalancing.
OPEC, Russia and several other producers have cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) since January.
“On the basis of the current IEA estimates, the oil market is more or less balanced in the second half of the year,” said Commerzbank in a note. “For stocks to be reduced any further, however, the oil market would have to show a deficit, so the optimism appears exaggerated.”
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said OPEC and other producers now needed to work on strategy beyond March next year, when the current pact on cuts ends.
“We need not only to keep up the pace but continue our coordinated joint actions in full, but also work out a strategy for the future, to which we will stick starting from April 2018,” he said, adding oil demand was rising at a “high pace.”
Officials said before Friday’s meeting that the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee would consider extending the supply cut pact.
The committee can make policy recommendations for the wider group of OPEC and non-OPEC producers, which meets in November.
Global oil inventories have shown signs of falling, although OPEC-led efforts to cut stockpiles to their five-year average has taken longer than expected. Oil prices remain at only half their level of mid-2014.
Kuwait’s minister said there were a “number of positives” in the market, including stock levels in industrialized OECD states in August that were 170 million barrels above the five-year average, down from 340 million barrels in January.
He also said oil in floating storage was falling and cited a shift of benchmark Brent prices into backwardation, a market condition in which it is more attractive to sell oil immediately rather than storing it for later sale, indicating tighter supplies.
OPEC will discuss extending production cuts that have boosted oil prices and imposing output quotas on all cartel members at a November meeting in Vienna, said UAE Energy Minister Suheil Al-Mazrouei, AFP reported.
“The next OPEC meeting will discuss whether there will be a need to extend the output cuts deal and for how long,” Mazrouei told reporters. “The meeting will also discuss adding new producers to the cuts deal,” the minister said.
Mazrouei said OPEC will also discuss imposing the quota system to countries that have so far been exempted.
— Reuters
Oil exporters beat glut rut as crude rises to highest in over two years
Oil exporters beat glut rut as crude rises to highest in over two years
Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector is a new economic engine between Riyadh and Paris, says ambassador
RIYADH: Culture has become a fundamental pillar in bilateral relations between France and Saudi Arabia, according to the French Ambassador to the Kingdom, Patrick Maisonnave.
Maisonnave noted its connection to the entertainment and tourism sectors, which makes it a new engine for economic cooperation between Riyadh and Paris.
He told Al-Eqtisadiah during the opening ceremony of La Fabrique in the Jax district of Diriyah that cultural cooperation with Saudi Arabia is an important element for its attractiveness in the coming decades.
La Fabrique is a space dedicated to artistic creativity and cultural exchange, launched as part of a partnership between the Riyadh Art program and the French Institute in Riyadh.
Running from Jan. 22 until Feb 14, the initiative will provide an open workspace that allows artists to develop and work on their ideas within a collaborative framework.
Launching La Fabrique as a space dedicated to artistic creativity
The ambassador highlighted that the transformation journey in the Kingdom under Vision 2030 has contributed to the emergence of a new generation of young artists and creators, alongside a growing desire in Saudi society to connect with culture and to embrace what is happening globally.
He affirmed that the relationship between the two countries is “profound, even cultural par excellence,” with interest from the Saudi side in French culture, matched by increasing interest from the French public and cultural institutions unfolding in the Kingdom.
Latest estimates indicate that the culture-based economy represents about 2.3 percent of France’s gross domestic product, equivalent to more than 90 billion euros ($106.4 billion) in annual revenues, according to government data. The sector directly employs more than 600,000 people, making it one of the largest job-creating sectors in the fields of creativity, publishing, cinema, and visual arts.
Saudi Arabia benefiting from French experience in the cultural field
Maisonnave explained that France possesses established cultural institutions, while Saudi Arabia is building a strong cultural sector, which opens the door for cooperation opportunities.
This comes as an extension of the signing of 10 major cultural agreements a year ago between French and Saudi institutions, aiming to enhance cooperation and transfer French expertise and knowledge to contribute to the development of the cultural system in the Kingdom.
He added that experiences like La Fabrique provide an opportunity to meet the new generation of Saudi creators, who have expressed interest in connecting with French institutions and artists in Paris and France.
La Fabrique encompasses a space for multiple contemporary artistic practices, including performance arts, digital and interactive arts, photography, music, and cinema, while providing the public with an opportunity to witness the stages of producing artistic works and interact with the creative process.
