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By Rowena Edwards and Maha El Dahan
LONDON/DUBAI (Archyde.com) – Five OPEC+ sources said on Saturday that the group is likely to keep its oil output targets when it meets on Sunday, after the Group of Seven nations agreed on a cap on Russian oil prices.
OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, angered the United States and other Western countries in October when it agreed to cut production by 2 million barrels per day, or about 2 percent of global demand, from November. The second this year until the end of 2023.
Washington accused OPEC + and one of the countries leading the group, Saudi Arabia, of siding with Russia despite the war it is waging in Ukraine.
OPEC+ said it had cut production due to expectations of a weaker economy, and oil prices have fallen since October due to slowing Chinese and global growth and higher interest rates.
The Group of Seven nations and Australia agreed on Friday to cap the price of a barrel of Russian seaborne oil at $60, a move to deprive President Vladimir Putin of revenue while keeping Russian oil flowing to global markets.
Moscow said it would not sell its oil according to this cap and that it was analyzing the appropriate response.
Several OPEC analysts and ministers said the price cap was puzzling and possibly ineffective because Moscow sells most of its oil to countries such as China and India that have refused to condemn the war in Ukraine.
Sources said OPEC members met online on Saturday without allies such as Russia and mostly discussed administrative issues. The ministers did not discuss imposing a cap on the price of Russian oil.
Five delegates from OPEC+ said on Saturday that the group at its Sunday meeting is likely to agree to extend the policy.
On Friday, two other OPEC + sources said that discussing a reduction in production again is not completely ruled out, given concerns about economic growth and demand.
OPEC+ will begin the talks at 1100 GMT on Sunday with a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, followed by a conference of ministers.
(Reporting by Alex Lawler and Ahmed Ghaddar; Reporting by Amira Zahran and Noha Zakaria for The Arabic Bulletin; Editing by Duaa Mohamed)