by Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO (Reuters) – The global oil market is expected to see a slight oversupply in 2024, even if OPEC+ countries extend their production cuts until next year, the head of OPEC told Reuters on Tuesday. the Oil Markets and Industry Division of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
For the moment, the oil market is in deficit and stocks are decreasing “at a rapid pace”, declared Toril Bosoni on the sidelines of a conference in Oslo.
“Global oil stocks are at low levels, which means you risk increased volatility in the event of surprises on the demand or supply side,” she added.
Three sources from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies told Reuters that OPEC+ is expected to consider further oil supply cuts at its meeting at the end of the month, as prices have fallen some 16% since the end of September.
A barrel of Brent fell to around $82 after reaching an annual high of nearly $98 in September. Concerns over demand and a possible surplus next year have pressured prices, despite support from OPEC+ cuts and the Middle East conflict.
Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of the group have already pledged to cut their oil production by 5.16 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5% of daily global demand, as part of a series of measures which began at the end of 2022.
These cuts include 3.66 million bpd from OPEC+ and additional voluntary cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
At its last policy meeting in June, OPEC+ agreed to a broad deal to limit supply until 2024 and Saudi Arabia pledged to voluntarily cut production by 1 million bpd in July, a decline which it has since extended until the end of 2023.
(Report Nerijus Adomaitis, written by Terje Solsvik; French version Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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