The current developments and future prospects of the global oil markets were deliberated on Friday by the oil ministers of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Iraq.

This came in a conference call where the Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Suhail Bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Cabinet Member and the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Kuwaiti Oil Minister, Dr Khaled Ali Al-Fadhel, Bahraini Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Omani Oil and Gas Minister, Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Rumhi, and Iraqi Minister of Oil, Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail, reviewed the continued recovery in global demand and progress made towards implementing the Opec+ agreement.

At the end of the phone call, the six ministers issued a joint statement where they said the positive signs of improvement shown recently in the global economy are “very encouraging”.

Hailing the efforts made by all countries of the world to re-open their economies in a safe manner, the six ministers reaffirmed their full commitment to the Opec+ deal on curbing oil production in order to further speed up the oil market’s rebalancing.

They’ve agreed that the members who made limited progress on compliance during the months of May, June, and July would further deepen their cuts to make up for it.

The six ministers reiterated their thanks to the Iraqi Minister of Oil for his country’s cooperation and efforts in rebalancing the oil market, reaffirming the significant role played by Iraq in ensuring the success of the Opec+ deal.

“Full compliance to the Opec + deal, including making up for the limited progress on adherence, would speed up the recovery of the global oil market to the best interest of oil consumers and producers alike, the energy industry and the world economy,” concluded the statement.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister and Iraqi counterpart stressed, in a phone call, their countries’ full commitment to an Opec+ deal curbing oil production, Iraqi state news agency said on Friday citing a joint statement from both ministries. The two ministers discussed the latest developments in oil markets, continued recovery in global demand and progress made towards implementing the Opec+ agreement. The organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as Opec+, began a record supply cut in May to bolster oil prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis. Opec, Russia and other producers, a group known as Opec+, agreed to cuts of 9.7 million bpd, or 10% of global output, from May 1. In July, they delivered 5.743 million bpd of the pledged reduction, equal to 94% compliance, the Reuters survey found.

Separately, Japan’s imports of crude oil from the UAE reached to 20.13 million barrels in June, according to a recent data from Agency for Natural Resources and Energy in Tokyo.

The agency, part of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, reported that the percentage of oil imports from the UAE amounted to 35.1 per cent of the total Japanese oil imports, noting that the amount of crude oil that Japan imported during that month amounted to 57.33 million barrels.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell nearly 2% on Friday, limiting their weekly gain due to concerns the global recovery could falter from a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

The rise in infections remains the dominant issue for the fuel demand outlook. Cases in the United States are still rising in a number of states, while India recently reported a record daily jump in infections. More than 700,000 people have died in the worldwide pandemic.

Brent crude fell 69 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $44.40 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 73 cents, or 1.7%, to end at $41.22 a barrel. Brent rose 2.5% for the week, while WTI gained 2.4%. Talks between US lawmakers over another round of stimulus have stalled, meanwhile. US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull White House representatives out of talks and instead issue executive orders to address economic needs.

Crude has recovered from lows reached in April, when Brent slipped below $16, a 21-year low.

“Keeping the price levels would be unrealistic,” Bjornar Tonhaugen of Rystad Energy said of this week’s rise.

US non-farm payrolls for July came in slightly better than expected, but still showed employment growth slowed. US Democratic leaders said the jobs report showed more investments were needed.

US energy companies cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs this week to a record low for a 14th week. US oil rigs fell by four to 176 this week, their lowest since July 2005, according to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes Co.

Agencies