Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are satisfied with crude oil prices between 60 and 70 USD per barrel, according to the Equatorial Guinea energy minister Gabriel Obiang Lima.

This is different from the previous claim that Saudi Arabia, which is an informal leader of the cartel, needs prices over 80 USD per barrel if wants to avoid a new budget deficit this year.

Obiang Lima also said that OPEC will continue to try to persuade its partners to extend the redundancies by the end of 2019, although the international Brent oil is already traded for over 60 USD per barrel.

The price range of 60-70 USD per barrel is the area where all “feel comfortable with”, said the Equatorial Guinea energy minister In his opinion, this is a “really right price for the manufacturer and the consumer”.

At the same time, OPEC said in its monthly report that tensions in international trade are damaging to oil demand, reducing its consumption forecasts and paving the way for new challenges.

The crude oil production within the cartel declined in May to a five-year low by 236,000 barrels per day to 29.88 million barrels per day. The OPEC produced less than 30 million barrels of oil for the first time since June 2014.