HOUSTON (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s energy minister says OPEC production cuts are working to bolster crude prices and his country will look at whether other oil-producing nations are living up to their promises to curtail pumping before deciding whether to extend the cutbacks beyond this summer.
Khalid Al-Falih expressed no great alarm Tuesday about the recovery in American oil output since crude prices began rebounding in early 2016.
But, in a nod to America’s ability to offset much of the OPEC cuts by pumping oil from shale formations, Al-Falih says he is watching the U.S. producers closely.
OPEC, whose members account for about one-third of global oil output, agreed to cut production beginning in January by 1.2 million barrels a day. Other countries joined in, pushing the total to nearly 1.8 million barrels. By independent accounts, those targets have mostly been met, although some producers, like non-OPEC Russia, have fallen short.
“Some have not lived up to expectations,” Al-Falih said, “but as a whole if you look at the totality the agreement is working well.”