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Saudis Says OPEC May Need New Way to Count Oil Stockpiles

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  • Finding reliable inventory data still a challenge: Al-Falih
  • Producers aiming now to trim stockpiles to five-year average
A worker turns a control wheel at the Novokuibyshevsk oil storage plant, operated by Rosneft PJSC, in Novokuibyshevsk, Samara region, Russia.

A worker turns a control wheel at the Novokuibyshevsk oil storage plant, operated by Rosneft PJSC, in Novokuibyshevsk, Samara region, Russia.

 Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

OPEC will soon discuss with Russia a new way to measure oil stockpiles, with the Saudi Energy Minister saying that finding reliable inventory data has been a challenge to more than a year of oil-output cuts meant to curb the global glut.

Oil producers involved in the supply reductions, which have helped lift crude prices to three-year highs, will discuss which inventory levels to consider when they meet in April, Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters in Riyadh on Wednesday. More coordination is needed to assess inventories, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said at the same meeting.