(MEBG) – The oil ministers of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, Ali Al Nuaimi and Ali Rodriguez, agree that the oil markets appear imbalanced and they remain committed to ensuring an adequate and timely of oil, reported the Gulf Daily on July 13. However, the oil ministers noted, that the current state of the market is likely to continue for the immediate future.
After talks with Rodriguez, who also serves as the Opec president, Kuwait’s oil minister, Shaikh Saud Nasser Al Sabah, appeared to soften his stance against a general increase in supply. The Kuwaiti said that Opec might consider a rise in oil output rise at the end of July if prices were unjustifiably high.
In London, oil prices retreated slightly as dealers kept a close watch on discussions between the two oil ministers. London benchmark Brent crude fell 19 cents by mid-afternoon to $29.01 a barrel. U.S. August light crude was off 31 cents to $29.39 a barrel.
Prices also were knocked lower by the latest weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), which showed surprise increases in U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate inventories. The API said crude stocks rose 1.2 million barrels to about 294 million barrels.
