OPEC Upbeat About Stability

OPEC remains focused on being a reliable supplier of oil to global markets but cannot control the global events causing oil price surges, said Secretary-General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo during the CERAWeek at the S&P Global Conference on Monday. 
“We have no control over current events, as geopolitics have overtaken the market,” Barkindo said. “All we can do is stay the course of our decisions to faithfully implement them and hope that our political leaders will eventually overcome this historic challenge,” Worldoil reported.
Barkindo referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a humanitarian tragedy for Ukrainians and all people, but said he remains cautiously optimistic that political leaders’ intervention will restore stability and peace. 
“Russia joined OPEC+ in 2016, during a cycle that was then believed to be the worst and most unprecedented cycle in history,” Barkindo said.
“At the time, OPEC was not in a position to restore stability to the market, so it reached out to producers outside the group, including Russia and nine other countries. When Covid-19 and more unprecedented events struck, it affirmed how important the established framework was.”
When asked whether OPEC would kick Russia out, Barkindo said the decision to leave a group like OPEC is a severing decision of respective members, and he is not in a position to speak on their behalf.