Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly discussed OPEC+ cooperation in a Monday phone call, with the focus on maintaining the stability of oil prices ahead of a virtual OPEC+ meeting planned for Wednesday.
Crude oil production in Russia has held up in spite of new Western sanctions and price caps, and three OPEC+ delegates have told Reuters that the Wednesday meeting is likely to conclude without any output policy changes.
The Wednesday meeting, which will take place at 1100 GMT, is a meeting of OPEC+ ministers only, otherwise referred to as the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).
Another meeting of the OPEC+ join technical committee (JTC) originally scheduled for January 31st, has been canceled, Reuters reported.
Also Read: OPEC+ Set To Keep Oil Production Unchanged
Chinese demand may likely be a key feature of Wednesday’s virtual meeting. One delegate source told Reuters last week that changes to the current output policy are unlikely due to the rebound in oil prices so far this year.
Oil prices were trading lower on Monday ahead of the OPEC+ meeting and a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates that is also scheduled for Wednesday.
At 10:19 a.m. EST on Monday, Brent crude was trading down 0.83%, at $85.94 per barrel, while WTI was trading down 0.92% on the day, at $78.95 per barrel.
Last week, Oilprie.com reported that due to uncertainties about Chinese demand and Russian supply in February and March, OPEC+ is widely expected to keep the current production levels, which reduced target output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November onwards. Yet, the actual cut is estimated to have been around 1 million bpd.
Also Read: OPEC’s Output Jumped Last December, But Still Below Target
In December, OPEC-13’s average December production rose by 91,000 bpd, according to the MOMR, to 28.971 million bpd, with nearly all of the gains coming from Nigeria. But December’s OPEC-10 production – the members bound by the OPEC+ pact – was still substantially below the production quota, with the group underproducing by more than 800,000 barrels per day.
By Bosco Agba with agency reports
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