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By Trend

The upcoming OPEC meeting may prove ineffective, says Valentin Zemlyansky, director for energy programs at the Center of World Economy and International Relations of the Ukraine National Academy of Sciences.

The measures taken earlier led to reduction in oil reserves by only 20 million barrels, while supply exceeds demand by more than 250 million barrels, he told Trend Apr. 21.

The expert said the US shale companies have already taken advantage of the OPEC’s decision, occupying the vacant niche in the global market.

“Given this, an OPEC decision to extend the oil cut agreement could lead to further strengthening of the US oil producers’ positions,” the expert said.

During a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 30, 2016, OPEC members decided to cut oil production to 32.5 million barrels per day. Later, non-OPEC countries agreed to reduce the output by another 558,000 barrels per day during the meeting held Dec. 10, 2016.

Eleven non-OPEC countries – Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan – agreed to reduce the oil output.

OPEC and non-OPEC countries pledged to start implementing the deal from Jan. 1, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months.

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