Algeria’s Khelil: OPEC cuts 'very likely'

Energy minister says price of oil barrel would have probably been $20 had OPEC not reduced output lately.

• Algeria’s minister for energy and mines said Sunday that OPEC will probably decide on more cutbacks in oil production in a bid to prevent further price drops, Algeria’s APS news agency reported.
• “It is very likely that OPEC will decide on March 15 to reduce production again to stabilise prices that are going down,” said Chakib Khelil, referring to the oil cartel’s next meeting in Vienna, according to APS.
• The minister said the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision to reduce production by 4.4 million barrels per day in September had prevented oil prices from plummeting even further.
• “If OPEC had not taken the decision to reduce in September, October and December, we would not be at 40 dollars a barrel (bpd), but probably at 20 dollars,” he said.
• Khelil warned that very low oil prices could shrink investment in the sector, creating an insufficient supply to meet demand when it picks up in the next two to three years.