OPEC’s Barkindo says ‘no physical shortage’ of oil

The outgoing general secretary of OPEC, Mohammad Barkindo, said that while oil prices in the futures markets have risen more than 30% since Russia invaded Ukraine, there’s “no physical shortage of oil, as of this morning,” Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

The futures markets are “paper barrels,” but in the physical market supplies are guaranteed, Barkindo said in an interview to Bloomberg TV during CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston.

OPEC and its allies will continue to guarantee supplies to the market.

Barkindo also said that he is in constant contact with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who assured him that Russia continues to participate in the OPEC+ agreement and fulfill its commitments on oil supplies.

At the same time, the OPEC secretary-general acknowledged that not all countries of the organization can currently fully implement the agreements to restore oil production, since free production capacities in OPEC are shrinking very quickly.