UAE oil minister defends Opec's decision not to cut production last year

[DUBAI] United Arab Emirates' energy minister said he did not regret last year's Opec decision not to cut the production ceiling in the face of falling prices.

"I am sure that the decision was right and I am confident that the market will stabilise," Suhail al-Mazrouei said at in industry conference in Dubai on Wednesday.

"We are not regretting the decision we took, we had no option," he said. "Yes it's painful for many producers around the world and we share that pain, but it doesn't mean that we need to do something that is not sustainable."

Mr Mazrouei also said the oil market would decide what the best price was, adding that the decision not to cut production was not just about defending market share. "The drive was not to protect market share and not to care about the price. I think we need to look at it differently than just protecting the market share," he said.

REUTERS