Opec cuts will barely dent world's bloated oil stockpiles

London

EVEN if Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) defies a sceptical market by implementing output cuts in full, it still won't drain the ocean of surplus oil already pumped from the ground.

The Opec aims to shrink the world's bloated oil inventories with its first production cut in eight years, according to secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo. Yet, the bloc's own data shows that even the maximum reduction under consideration would barely dent record stockpiles next year. That makes securing help from competitors - chiefly Russia - critical to ending the glut.

Global supplies have exceeded demand for three years straight, resulting in the accumulation of an oil-inventory surplus big enough to fill about 160 supertankers. While cutting output to the lower end of the range adopted last month would stop a further expansion, it would curb the existing excess by just 11 per cent next year, the group's data shows. If the …