OPEC members will seriously reconsider whether to continue with the current production agreement that aims to reduce global supply by 1.76 million barrels per day and was first agreed in November last year and was extended until March 2018 at a meeting in May or scrap it completely at the regular OPEC meeting in November. At an interview with Kuwait TV, Kuwaiti oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said, “At our next meeting at the end of November...the most important items will concern the fate of the agreement to extend or terminate the production cut”.

At the July meeting in Russia, where Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih pledged to cut Saudi exports by as much as a million barrels by August compared to a year ago, OPEC members said that compliance was close to 98 percent in June. However, according to International Energy Agency (IEA), the compliance within OPEC members have declined to just 75 percent in July while compliance among participating non-OPEC members remains at 67 percent. OPEC’s own oil market reports better numbers than IEA but it was evident that compliance was slipping and production increased for a third consecutive month.

WTI is currently trading at $47.7 per barrel and Brent at $3.9 per barrel premium to WTI.