Today, Wednesday, OPEC + producers agreed to comply With modest production increase plans scheduled in advance In April.
Oil topped $110 this week, its highest level in nearly eight years, as Western sanctions tightened the noose further on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine, disrupting oil sales from Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter.
By 13:15 GMT, Brent crude exceeded $113.
Western measures deterred many buyers of Russian crude, and even caused problems in exports from Kazakhstan, Russia’s neighbor and also a member of OPEC +, made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and allied oil-producing countries.
And OPEC + has increased production by 400,000 barrels per month since last August, in the context of reversing the production cuts it decided on due to the decrease in demand for oil due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bloc has resisted demands from the United States and other consuming countries for more supplies.
Well Balanced Market
A statement issued after Wednesday’s meeting, which endorsed adherence to existing plans, did not mention the Ukraine crisis and only referred to “geopolitical developments” causing market turmoil.
The OPEC + statement said, “The main factors in the oil market currently, and the consensus in its expectations indicates a well-balanced market and that the current turmoil is not due to a change in market fundamentals, but due to the current geopolitical developments.”
“Not even a single word was mentioned in the Ukrainian crisis,” a source said after Wednesday’s talks, which lasted less than a quarter of an hour.
under pressure
Other sources confirmed that the bloc did not address the Ukrainian crisis at all.
Alexander Novak, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister who represented Russia in the OPEC + talks, expressed his hope that oil market volatility will ease, and said that Russian production is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels in May.
Russia, under increasing pressure from Western sanctions that has plunged its ruble currency and forced it to raise interest rates, called its moves in Ukraine a “special operation” and said it had no intention of occupying it.
The United States said on Wednesday that it remains ready to target the Russian energy industry with direct sanctions, and has repeatedly called for an increase in OPEC+ production.
However, only a handful of countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have spare capacity to increase production.
2.6 million barrels per day
The remaining effective cuts to OPEC + production due to the pandemic are 2.6 million barrels per day, and the bloc is expected to recover it by the end of next September.
With demand recovering strongly due to the decline in the impact of the pandemic, oil prices jumped to record levels.
And the Saudi Press Agency said that the Council of Ministers confirmed yesterday, Tuesday, its commitment to the OPEC + agreement, while Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
The next meeting of OPEC + is scheduled for March 31.