IEA: New Cuts by Saudi Arabia and Others Unlikely to Balance Oil Market

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Thursday that recently announced oil output cuts by major Gulf Arab producers would likely not be enough to balance global markets as coronavirus lockdowns hollow out demand.

"I am happy to see Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Kuwait - on top of their existing commitments - are now going to make further cuts. I do welcome them, whether or not this is enough, I do not think so," Birol told reporters on a conference call after energy watchdog IEA released its monthly report.

"We are seeing the early signs of a start of recovery, but it is far too early to say we are soon going to reach the rebalancing of the markets, we are just in the beginning of that process."

(Reporting by Noah Browning and Shadia Nasralla; editing by Jason Neely)