OPEC’s Barkindo: Non-fundamentals took prime stage in oil market

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Europe

02:29

A critical summit for OPEC is fast approaching with both members and non- members meeting in Algiers to try solve the supply issues posed by the US sanctions on Iran. And with Tehran recently hitting out at fellow OPEC countries Russia and Saudi Arabia, some say that the group looks increasingly fractured.

But the organization's Secretary General, Mohammed Barkindo, said that OPEC together with its partner has become a permanent feature. He said that the function of OPEC is to ensure the stabilization of oil market.

“I wonder what the World oil markets and the industry would look like without OPEC,” said Barkindo, “I think OPEC together with its partner in the declaration of cooperation, which is sometimes referred to as the Vienna plus has become a permanent feature for good on the energy scene.”

Barkindo added that supply issues posed by non-fundamentals such as the US sanctions on Iran are beyond the organization's control, but they are always “keeping eyes and ears to the market” to mitigate possible effects.

Meanwhile, Barkindo suggested the market to be cognizant of the fact that these headwinds are real.

“We all know that this global economic growth since the last financial crisis has almost probably run out of steam, but to back this up, it's also the current trade disputes among the leading trading partners of the world and other geopolitical issues that I imagine are related to that,” Barkindo told CGTN.

(CGTN's Jacob Greaves also contributed to the story.)