OPEC claims oil nations are working well to control supply

aron M. Sprecher | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Mohammed Barkindo, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), speaks during the 2017 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. CERAWeek gathers energy industry leaders, experts, government officials and policymakers, leaders from the technology, financial, and industrial communities to provide new insights and critically-important dialogue on energy markets.

On whether there would be any new compliance structure to punish countries who exceed oil caps, Barkindo said the current process was effective.

“What I cannot rule out is the continuation of what is working. We started this mechanism in January and every month we continuously review the structure, the mechanism, the level of implementation and we have been in active consultation, not only within the GCC ( the Gulf Cooperation Council) but all other participating countries,” he said.

“They are satisfied, we are all satisfied that the structure, as well as the mechanism, is working. So I cannot rule out the current mechanism,” he said.

Upon being pressed on the matter, the OPEC leader admitted that he could not completely rule out any change to compliance rules.

“This is a world of uncertainty. A world that is ruled by uncertainty and you have had President (Vladimir) Putin himself who has referred to that.”

“But at the moment what you can see is that there is no need to change what is working,” he added.