OPEC's Barkindo says global OECD oil stocks down 160m barrels y-on-y

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – OPEC and its allies expect oil inventories to continue to fall in the coming months, OPEC's secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo said on Monday, noting efforts by the producers to support the market are succeeding.

Oil stocks in the developed world nations (OECD) have fallen by 160 million barrels compared to year-ago levels, including by 6.9 million barrels in April, said Barkindo, speaking at the virtual Nigeria International Petroleum Summit.

During March, OECD industry oil stocks were drawn by 25 million barrels to 2,951 million barrels, reducing the overhang versus the five-year average to only 1.7 million barrels, and 36.9 million barrels above the five-year average between 2015 and 2019, the IEA said in its May report.

Referring to current oil prices, the Secretary-General said, "the market has continued to react positively to the decisions we took, including the upward adjustments of production levels beginning in May this year."

The 23-member OPEC+ group agreed in April to start softening production curbs of 350,000 bpd in May, 350,000 bpd in June, and a further 400,000 bpd for July.

Additionally, Saudi Arabia has started easing its voluntary cuts of 1 million bpd.

Barkindo further added that vaccine rollouts and the "massive fiscal stimulus" were also supporting oil prices, but said that the uneven roll-out of the global vaccination program and ongoing outbreaks of Covid-19 remain a risk to the demand recovery.

Speaking later in a panel session, Barkindo said that while OPEC acknowledged climate change, the global economy would still need oil.