The Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea about extension of the OPEC agreement

Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea: “The global oil market will soon need more raw materials, but a short-term extension of the OPEC + agreement seems viable. We really believe that the market has already hardened, and only geopolitical aspect can affect it. With certainty we are approaching a moment when we may need to conclude a very short-term agreement, and then monitor … Apparently, there will be greater oil demand at the market and some companies will have to produce more oil”.

Obiang Lima expressed the position of Equatorial Guinea, since not all states support oil production growth.

The minister explained: “For example, Iran is limited in its ability to ramp up production, and Saudi Arabia or Russia, for example, will start to produce more. So this will be a big challenge, there will be disputes … But, most manufacturers have to reduce production mainly due to lack of investment. So I think that we are approaching times when we need to loosen the market, stop the reduction and enable producers to increase production.”

When asked by journalists whether a consensus on future OPEC + agreement had been reached, the minister replied: “No, there is no consensus … When we meet in December, we’ll talk about it. It will be very interesting.”

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