OPEC is 'taking it easy' on oil prices, Riyadh tells Trump

The Saudi energy minister said on Wednesday that OPEC is "taking it easy", in response to US President Donald Trump's tweet days earlier requesting the oil giant to "relax and take it easy."

"Oil prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax and take it easy," Trump tweeted from his social media account. 

Khalid al-Falih said he is leaning towards extending oil production cuts in the second half of 2019, despite Trump's demand to keep prices down.

In a deal made at the end of 2016, OPEC's regular members joined forces with other countries - most notably Russia - to scale back output in a bid to reduce a glut that was weighing on prices.

Oil prices went up for a second day on Wednesday, due in part to Falih's tweet indicating Saudi Arabia is undaunted by pressure from Trump, and to a decline in US crude inventories, Reuters reported. 

"We remain flexible. I am leaning towards the likelihood of an extension in the second half" of this year for the output cuts, al-Falih, energy minister of the world's top crude exporter Saudi Arabia, told CNBC television in Riyadh.

His comments come just two days after Trump criticised the producer group for rising crude prices.

"World cannot take a price hike - fragile!" Trump tweeted on Monday.

"The 25 countries are taking a very slow and measured approach... We are interested in market stability first and foremost," Falih said in his tweet, noting "we are taking it easy".

Read also: What do Middle East energy markets hold in store for 2019?

Falih said it was hard to foresee the situation in June when the agreement between major oil producers, including Russia, expires.

The January deal has pushed prices higher but so far failed to boost them to their multi-year peak of $85 a barrel reached in October, triggering speculation of an extension of the deal to cut production.

"All of the outlooks that I have seen show we'll need to moderate production in the second half of this year, but you never know," Falih said.

President Trump has repeatedly commented on OPEC and oil prices, criticising the move to cut production and urging OPEC to keep the taps open in order to push prices down.  

In its February monthly report, OPEC said it produced 797,000 fewer barrels per day in January than in the previous month after heavyweight Saudi Arabia slashed output and exports fell in crisis-hit Venezuela, a decrease in line with the cartel's pledge to curb output in a bid to boost sagging prices.

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