OPEC to seriously consider views of Modi before cutting production: Saudi oil min

Vienna/New Delhi: Oil cartel OPEC will consider views of world leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represent the voice of major consuming nations, with seriousness before taking a decision on cutting output to support falling prices, Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said Thursday.

Led by Modi, India has been very strongly making a case for oil producers' cartel OPEC to price crude at reasonable and responsible rates.

Speaking to reporters at the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), he said: "We take the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seriously who (like US President Donald Trump) is equally vocal about the issue. We just met him in Buenos Aires (during G20 summit) and privately he made those points very very strongly that he does care for Indian consumers and is very serious about it. I have also seen him at three times at various energy events in India where he was very vocal." He was replying to a question on US President's expectations from OPEC meeting. "Well, President Trump is the president of the largest consuming country in the globe — 21 million (barrels), I believe, or thereabouts. That's 20 per cent of global markets if not more. And the consumer in the US, just like the consumer in France, just like the consumer in India, just like the consumer in Saudi Arabia, wants affordable energy. "So, he (Trump) has every right to wish for affordability of energy for the citizens of the United States and he is very vocal using his favourite communication tool which is Twitter and we hear him and we take his views seriously," he said.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump in a tweeted had hoped that OPEC will keep oil flowing and not take decisions that would lead to higher oil prices.

"Hopefully OPEC will be keeping oil flows as is, not restricted. The World does not want to see, or need, higher oil prices!," he had said. Consuming nations are part of OPEC deliberations even when they are not physically present in the meeting room, the Saudi oil minister said.

"And the fact that President Trump tweets about it and reminds us, I think, is a healthy thing and we take it as one input factor but at the end of the day our most important guiding principle is to bring supply and demand into balance and we don't think the US will benefit from an over-supply market for an extended period of time where investment flows stop and the fantastic growth in US shale is brought to a halt in the way it happened in 2015-2016," he said.