OPEC Optimistic On US-China Trade War Outcome, Impact 'Exaggerated' - Chief

ABU DHABI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2019) OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said on Tuesday that he considered the ongoing US-China trade war to be "exaggerated" and was "cautiously optimistic" about its eventual outcome.

"In [OPEC's] opinion, the impact of trade tensions, based on our numbers, has been exaggerated. There's a lot of hype in the market. The export numbers in China, for example, for the month of August came down by 1 percent, but we have lost in the oil market 10 times this amount from the beginning of trade disputes to now," Barkindo told reporters on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress in Abu Dhabi when asked about the effect of US-China trade tensions on the economy.

Barkindo added that OPEC was "cautiously optimistic" that the impact of the trade war between the world's two major economies would not be magnified onto the global market.

The trade row between China and the United States erupted in June 2018 when Washington imposed the first round of its additional trade duties on Beijing. Since then, the sides have exchanged several rounds of duties and are engaged in the talks to settle their disagreements.