(Adds Saudi minister's quote and output details)
LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - Decisions on oil output
taken by OPEC+ countries reflect consensus in the group, the
Saudi foreign minister said on Tuesday after reports of
differences among members.
A media report that the United Arab Emirates is considering
leaving OPEC is "far from the truth," two sources with direct
knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week.
Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
played down the Wall Street Journal report of divergence between
Saudi Arabia and the UAE on a range of policy areas including
OPEC and Yemen.
"All decisions in OPEC and OPEC+ are made through very
extensive dialogue between all the partners ... Every statement
I see that is made on the record from all of the partners in
OPEC+ reflects that consensus," he told reporters in London,
referring to members of the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and others including Russia.
He also played down the idea of a wider divide between Saudi
Arabia and the UAE.
"We have a very, very strong, robust partnership between the
UAE and the Kingdom. Do we agree on everything all the time?
Probably not. But reports of divergence - that are often
overdramatized, usually based on unnamed sources - don't
understand how deep the relationship is," he said.
He restated the position of the Saudi energy minister who
said last month the current OPEC+ deal on oil output would be
locked in until the end of the year
"We always say that we are committed to a stable market ...
(the minister of energy) feels the market doesn't need any
production changes until the end of the year," Prince Faisal
said.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by WIlliam James and
Grant McCool)
Messaging: alistair.smout.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
