LONDON, FEBRUARY 13, 2018 – OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo told CNBC on Tuesday he has President Vladimir Putin’s word that Russia will not flood the oil markets.
Barkindo told CNBC: “I have had and received assurances both from (Energy Minister) Alexander Novak and President Putin that they would remain committed to the OPEC/non-OPEC collaboration under the declaration of cooperation.”
Barkindo also said recent falls in the oil and stock markets were “just a blip”. “So the fundamentals are so strong we do not expect any hiccup along the way similar to what we had or we saw last year.”
He said he was not concerned by rising competition among OPEC, Russia and the United States in the Chinese market: “The growing concern now in the industry is whether we have enough capacity and whether we are ready and willing to continue to provide, to supply this market with this growing demand.”
