UAE says end of U.S. oil export ban not to affect global market

A file picture taken on May 27, 2007 file photo shows an oil rig in Tioga, North Dakota. The United States lifted a 40-yearban on oil exports on December 18, 2015, a move long sought by the oil industry to open an outlet for ballooning production and inventories. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

ABU DHABI, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said Tuesday that the end of an oil export ban in the United States will not affect global oil market, state news agency WAM reported.

"As for the decision in the United States, every country has the right to take their own decisions. We don't see this will change the supply and demand balance," Al-Mazroui told WAM in Abu Dhabi after a meeting with ministry officials and strategic partners.

The U.S. Congress on Friday voted to repeal the 40-year-old ban on exporting U.S. crude oil.

So far, the world's biggest economy was only allowed to export the "black gold" if an oil company received a waiver from U. S. president.

For the UAE, a major oil supplier, 29 percent of its gross domestic product is based on the domestic oil industry.

UAE's Oil Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei is accompanied by plaintclothes police as he arrives at his hotel ahead of a meeting of OPECoil ministers in Vienna, Austria, December 3, 2015. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Al-Mazrouei stressed the UAE and its partners will carry out a new energy strategy that includes lifting fuel subsidies and rationalising energy consumption.

The UAE also plans to cut the use of natural gas in power generation to 70 percent by 2021, down from the current 99 percent, as part of a national strategy to achieve sustainability, the minister said.

The oil price slumped from 110 dollars per barrel in mid-2014 to below 40 dollars per barrel currently.