Compliance with the production cuts set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia's bloc was at 136% in August, the cartel's secretary general told TASS in an interview published on Monday and added a deeper reduction would be premature. Mohammed Barkindo also noted "a few countries" in the global pact are below full conformity with the quotas and seemingly hinted at the December conference for talks. Turning to last month's mysterious attack which halved Saudi Arabia's output and the subsequent escalation in the country's already critical dispute with Iran, he said the group would appreciate the help of Russia's President Vladimir Putin to "reconcile some of the differences."
Barkindo said Putin has "political gravitas and leverage" beyond the Middle East. The conformity with the agreed volumes in the so-called OPEC+ deal is looking to rise toward year-end, he claimed. Ecuador's announcement yesterday that it would leave OPEC in January was "a surprise," according to the secretary general.
