Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary MATSUNO Hirokazu indicated Friday the government’s stance of carefully watching effects of a reported plan by Saudi Arabia to extend its voluntary crude oil output cuts into September.

The Kingdom decided to extend the voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day through September, according to the state-run news agency quoting an official from the Saudi Ministry of Energy. 

“We will keep a close watch with a sense of tension on possible impacts (of the move by Saudi Arabia) on the international energy market and Japan’s economy, including prices in the nation, which have been rising,” the top Japanese government spokesman said at a press conference.

“We will strengthen cooperation with the International Energy Agency and major oil-consuming nations to encourage oil-producing countries to help stabilize the global crude oil market by increasing production and investing in spare oil production capacity,” Matsuno added.

At a ministerial meeting in June, the OPEC Plus grouping of oil-producing countries agreed to extend its current cooperation framework for production cuts until the end of 2024. Following the development, Saudi Arabia decided to independently cut its crude oil production by an additional 1 million barrels per day in July and later showed its plan to continue such reductions in August.

In June, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stressed the need to trust OPEC+ and called it the most effective international organization working to restore market stability. 

“It was just our sensibility, if you will call it, that the environment was not sufficiently allowing confidence to be there. So, taking a precautionary measure tends to put you on the safe side. And it is part of the typical rhythm that we have installed in OPEC, which is being proactive, being preemptive,” Prince Abdulaziz told CNBC. 

In July, the UAE’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei echoed similar views and said that OPEC+ always strives for oil market stability by ensuring a balance in fundamentals between supply and demand. 

*With JIJI Press