Oil market on track to rebalance in H2: Qatar energy minister

[DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia] Qatar's energy minister and current Opec president Mohammed al-Sada said on Tuesday that the oil market was on the right track towards rebalancing in the second half of 2016.

"As we proceed to the second quarter of the year, we see an increase in global demand for oil due to demand for oil products, particularly gasoline," he said in a statement.

"This trend is likely to increase further from next month due to the onset of the summer driving season."

Mr Sada said world oil supply was declining because of the closure of high-cost production facilities and declining numbers of drilling rigs in operation, which was leading to a fall in production. "The current level of oil prices is the main reason for the lack of investment in the oil industry," he said.

Opec ministers are set to meet on June 2 in Vienna to review the oil market situation.

A deal to freeze oil output, designed to lift oil prices, fell apart at a Doha meeting in April between Opec and non-Opec producers after Saudi Arabia insisted that Iran take part.

Since 2014, Saudi Arabia has led Opec through a new survival-of-the-fittest strategy aimed at defending market share rather than reducing production to support oil prices.

REUTERS