OPEC + Committee Ministers Support Extension of Oil Production Plan for December The ministers of the monitoring committee of the OPEC + countries (JMMC) called for an increase in oil production in December by only 400,000 barrels per day, as planned, sources told Interfax.
Later, a full-format meeting of ministers will take place, after which, at 18:30 GMT, a press conference is scheduled.
In July, amid the recovery in oil demand, the OPEC + countries decided to accelerate the increase in oil production - by 400 thousand barrels per day (b / d). Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who has expressed concerns that a recovery in demand may be fragile amid the ongoing C0VID-19 pandemic, said not all countries will be able to ramp up supply. And already in August the deal was overfulfilled by 119% (that is, the shortfall to the plan was about 1 million bpd), and in September - by 115% (the shortfall was 0.7 million bpd).
Oil prices are rising steadily and in excess of $ 80 a barrel, pushing fuel prices higher, causing inflation and, as consumers say, hampering economic recovery.
However, while the OPEC + countries ignored these requests - at the previous meeting there was talk of a possible accelerated increase by eight hundred, and not 400 thousand b / d, but in the end the decision was made. Producers, in particular Saudi Arabia, want to make sure that the market needs oil in the long term, because they cannot, once increasing supplies, "turn off the tap" and leave their investments in the ground.
Meanwhile, many experts and market participants are already talking about a persistent lack of investment in oil production, and producers are talking about the need to look at sources of energy other than oil.