LONDON/DUBAI/MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC members and several other oil-producing countries, grouped under the name OPEC+, have maintained their policies and postponed until March the decision on whether to extend voluntary production cuts of oil, two OPEC+ sources said on Thursday.
Last November, OPEC+ agreed to voluntary production cuts totaling around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of this year, with Saudi Arabia continuing a voluntary cut of 1 million bpd .
On Thursday, OPEC+ met online to discuss the market and oil production levels, and made no changes to its policy.
Oil prices were supported by expectations of interest rate cuts and growing geopolitical tensions, including attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi group on ships traveling in the Red Sea. A barrel of Brent was trading at more than $81 on Thursday.
The two OPEC+ sources, who declined to be identified, said the oil production cuts would be reviewed in March.
If the voluntary first-quarter cuts are reversed, OPEC+ will begin returning 2.2 million bpd to the market from the beginning of April. That would leave 3.66 million bpd of previously agreed production cuts in place.
Riyadh said cuts could continue beyond the first quarter if necessary. Previous decisions to extend voluntary reductions were made at least one month before their implementation.
The Saudi government, in a surprise announcement this week, ordered state oil company Aramco to halt its oil capacity expansion plan and aim for a maximum sustained production capacity of 12 million bpd, or 1 million bpd less than the target announced in 2020.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday, after attending the OPEC+ meeting, that the situation in the oil market was stable.
(Reporting Ahmad Ghaddar, Olesya Astakhova, Maha El Dahan, Vladimir Soldatkin and Alex Lawler; written by and with the contribution of Alex Lawler; French version Gaëlle Sheehan)
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