Oil market in good condition, to be well-supplied in Q1 2022: UAE's Mazrouei

The global oil market is "in a good condition" and will be well supplied in the first quarter of 2022, the UAE's energy minister said Dec. 13, as OPEC+ stuck to its planned 400,000 b/d output hike in January.

"We think the market is in a good condition," Suhail al-Mazrouei told reporters on the sidelines of Seatrade Maritime Middle East 2021 conference in Dubai.

"We have made our latest decision based on studying all the fundamentals of the market and we are confident that we are moving to a well-supplied market in the first quarter."

OPEC+ decided at its Dec. 2 meeting to stay its course with a 400,000 b/d increase in January and kept its meeting "in session" amid the spread of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, and the US-led release of stocks from Strategic Petroleum Reserves.

Oil prices, which tanked at the end of November with the emergence of omicron, have yet to recover the losses.

Omicron fears

S&P Global Platts assessed Dated Brent at $74.315/b Dec. 10, down 1.24% on the day.

Dated Brent fell 11% to $73.27/b Nov. 26, according to Platts assessment, amid investor fears about the impact of omicron on global oil demand.

The next OPEC+ meeting has been set for Jan. 4 to decide on February production levels. Mazrouei declined to say what he thinks the alliance should do at their next meeting.

"We are monitoring, though, and we will meet every month to ensure that we are adequately supplying the market," the minister said.