OPEC + IRAN, VENEZUELA

PLATTS - OPEC and other oil producers in the cuts pact are following developments in Venezuela and other countries to ensure an energy crisis is avoided, Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said Thursday.

"Our objective remains as an organization that we will continue to work with all member countries as well as the participating countries in the declaration of cooperation to avoid any energy crisis in the world despite current travails in several of our member countries," Barkindo told journalists in Tehran, referring to the agreement by OPEC and other producers led by Russia to reduce oil output.

With two OPEC members under sanctions, Iran and Venezuela, "we are conscious of the times that we have found ourselves. But the good news is that talking to all member countries we remain committed, we remain focused on our principal objective as an organization to ensure stability at all times in n the oil market, to ensure that we avoid any energy crisis that will impact on the global economy."

In accordance with the organization's plans to draw down inventories and remove 1.2 million b/d from global markets, OPEC canceled a meeting in April to re-evaluate its policy and its next meeting -- a Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting -- will take place on May 19 on Jeddah. The next full OPEC meeting is scheduled for June when "all options will be reviewed," Barkindo said.

"All I can say is that the group is committed to stay united, is committed to ensure that our objective of not returning or slipping back into the chaos that we witnessed in the market following the longest cycle that we have seen from 2014 to 2016 does not repeat itself, including the volatility that we have seen in the fourth quarter of 2018," he said.

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