The Minister of Energy &Industry for the United Arab Emirates was speaking at a Ministerial Panel discussion during the first day of ADIPEC 2018.

In a brilliant but at times robust debate, the UAE minister said that OPEC’s importance and standing has been questioned during every decade, but claimed that the organization has evolved over time and is now stronger than ever.

Al Mazrouei said, “People have always questioned OPEC. Do we need OPEC they proclaim? It has happened in every decade. But we have evolved a lot. If OPEC wasn't a good organization then the members would’ve withdrawn by now. We're not a cartel like some have suggested. The world economy can't function without OPEC. It's not an organization that is greedy. It's an organization that targets the market balance."

H.E. Khalid Al Falih, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources said that any decisions made on cutting supply would be based on the needs of the market.

Al Falih said, “We are not in the business of pinpointing a price. We have been talking about the price gyrations. What we are trying to do at the next conference when we meet in Vienna is look at the fundamentals and signal what the trend is, we can’t change the past. We have been working over the last two years to bring inventories into balance but there are too many variables with short-term trends that continue for the long-term.

Al Falih also believes that the market overacted to the announcement of a reduction in output from OPEC members and the confirmation by the US that it would impose sanctions on Iran.

“Fear and anxiety gripped the market so we want to assure it gets back to balance. Saudi Arabia may cut output by 500,000 to 1 million barrels a day. We don’t want inventories built up and we are seeing that is starting to happen. The technical analysis OPEC makes is that there will be a reduction for October approaching 1 million barrels but that is based on assumptions that might change.”