Saudi Arabia’s energy minister says ‘rough seas’ persist in oil market

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister says ‘rough seas’ persist in oil market

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Saudi Arabia's energy minister warned fellow producers in the Opec+ oil alliance that crude's recovery was "far from complete“ as countries meet to decide whether to release additional barrels on to the market. 

Abdulaziz bin Salman, who is the son of Saudi Arabia's king, said on Thursday that even as market conditions had improved "the waves are still tall and the sea remains rough“, with the coronavirus pandemic still wreaking havoc across the world. 

In Europe governments are imposing new restrictions and lockdowns to curb the virus's spread while new variants are creating fresh uncertainties even as the global rollout of vaccines provides optimism. 

"Until the evidence of the recovery is undeniable, we should maintain this cautious stance,“ Prince Abdulaziz told reporters and ministers ahead of the formal virtual gathering of oil officials.

Opec and allies outside the cartel, led by Russia, agreed in April 2020 to cut a record 9.7m barrels a day. The Opec+ group has gradually unwound these curbs to about 7m b/d, with producers meeting monthly to decide how much oil to unleash on the market. 

In December Opec+ agreed that it would increase output by up to 500,000 b/d in the