UAE says oil price forcing producers to freeze output

[ABU DHABI] United Arab Emirates energy minister said on Monday that current oil prices will force many producers to freeze output and that a correction in prices would take time.

"I believe that the current oil prices are forcing everyone to freeze so I think it is happening as we speak. It doesn't make any sense for anyone to increase production at the current prices," Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazrouei told reporters.

"The majority of the world, 99.8 per cent, maybe 99.9 per cent, are not going to increase production. To the contrary many producing assets are losing now at the current oil prices... We are seeing a reduction and we will see a reduction in those fields," he said.

"This is all good news towards balancing the market. We just need to be patient. It's not happening in weeks or months. Correcting to a sustainable price will take time. I'm still optimistic that before the end of year we will see a correction."

REUTERS