UAE Minister of Energy, Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, has reiterated the UAE's commitment to restoring balance in the global oil markets and said closing the supply-demand gap would back a rise in prices, in the second half of this year. 

The UAE continues to play an effective role in any agreement between OPEC members to provide enough supply and serve the interests of producers and consumers, he said on the sidelines of the 169th Meeting of the Conference of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. He headed the UAE delegation to the meeting. 

Demand will grow by 1.2 million barrels per day in 2016 and higher prices would maintain investments in the oil sector, Al Mazrouei said. 

Expecting that markets would restore stability before the year-end, the minister said, "OPEC's policy is working fine and has led to the organisation maintaining its market share and driving markets towards stability and a smaller supply-demand gap." 

The UAE delegation to the OPEC meeting included the Permanent Representative of the UAE to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Hamad Ali Al Kaabi; Assistant Undersecretary for Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources at the Ministry of Energy, and UAE's Governor for OPEC, Ahmed Al Kaabi; officials from the ministry and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

Source: WAM