OPEC Sees Negative Consequences if Algiers Accord Not Implemented

Failure to implement a deal agreed in Algiers in September to cut oil output would bring negative consequences to an already fragile oil industry, the secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Tuesday.

"I remain confident that the message has sunk (in), that the consequences are clear and the experience of the past two years has been noted," Mohammed Barkindo said at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

"Failing to implement the Algiers accord in full and timely fashion will bring negative consequences on the already fragile state of the industry," he added.

Oil prices have more than halved in the past two years, pushed down by a glut in global supplies and hitting the budgets of major producers.

Since announcing their intention to cut production to a range of 32.5 to 33 million barrels per day following the Algiers meeting, discord among the world's largest exporters has grown.

Libya, Nigeria, Iraq and Iran have clamoured to be exempt from any reduction as they recover market share lost to civil unrest and, in the case of Tehran, international sanctions.

But Barkindo said Iran had assured him that it would stick to the agreement.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran played a very key role in the consensus that produced the Algiers accord," Barkindo later told Reuters.

"I have got it from the highest powers in Tehran personally that Iran is committed to implementing the decision they jointly took with other member countries in Algiers, and I am satisfied with that," he said.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Writing by William Maclean and Dale Hudson)