Mexico Not Feeling Pressure from OPEC

Mexican Energy Minister Ernesto Martens said Mexico has not received any additional pressure from OPEC to increase its promised oil cut as the cartel tries to shore up sagging prices. Mexico, not a member of OPEC but a key player because it ranks as one of the United States' top three oil suppliers, has pledged to trim exports by 100,000 barrels per day in tandem with OPEC and other non-OPEC producers.

But OPEC is still trying to win commitments from non-OPEC nations to reduce their supplies by 500,000 bpd. OPEC has demanded the cuts to complement the cartel's pledged 1.0 million bpd in cuts scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.

Despite weeks of back-and-forth, Martens said he was optimistic that OPEC and non-OPEC nations, which also include Russia and Norway, would reach an agreement to trim supplies.

Russia has offered a cut of 150,000 bpd, while Oman has said it would slash by 25,000 bpd. Norway is slated to announce a reduction of between 100,000 and 200,000 bpd in coming days. But even if Norway meets expectations and comes up with 150,000 bpd, the non-OPEC share of the cut would still be short of the goal by 75,000 bpd.


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