By Georgina McCartney
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Kazakhstan is in discussions with oil majors to cut output to bring the country’s supply back in line with targets set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+), its energy minister Almasadam Satkaliyev said on Monday.
“We are in phases of discussions with the majors, we are having an open dialogue”, Satkaliyev said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston.
OPEC+ member Kazakhstan raised its crude and gas condensate output in February to a record high of 2.12 million barrels per day (bpd).
Speaking at an online briefing last week, officials from Kazakhstan, which has frequently exceeded the OPEC+ production quotas, pledged to cut output in March, April and May to compensate for pumping above targets in previous months.
Last week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak suggested OPEC+ could reverse the output increase after April, if there are market imbalances.
“There is no final decision (on that) and it depends on the situation with the market,” Satkaliyev said.
The OPEC+ April hike will see output increase by 138,000 bpd, according to Reuters calculations.
“All of the figures depend on how much we will cut, for Kazakhstan,” Satkaliyev said.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)
