The meeting takes place amid a rise in prices at the end of last year, although markets remain uncertain.
Members of the OPEC oil producer group and its partners will meet by videoconference on Monday to decide on production levels for February, hoping to overcome a difficult year.
The OPEC + ministerial meeting comes after oil consumption plummeted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Despite the acceleration in prices at the end of last year, the levels of the black gold market remain uncertain.
After their last summit, from November 30 to December 3, OPEC + members agreed to increase production by half a million barrels a day in January.
The 13 members of the OPEC cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, and its six allies led by Russia, also agreed to meet at the beginning of each month to decide on possible adjustments to production volumes for the following month.
Russia and Saudi Arabia are, respectively, the second and third largest oil producers in the world, after the United States.
The decision illustrates OPEC’s desire to maintain a strong influence on the oil market and the gravity of the situation for oil producers last year.
Before the pandemic, OPEC members were content with two summits a year at the organization’s headquarters in Vienna.
“Finally, we saw a strong demonstration of OPEC +’s willingness and ability to manage the market, laying the foundations for Brent’s recovery to over $ 50 a barrel, despite the uncertain demand remaining in the market,” said analysts at JBC Energy in a statement.
The two benchmark contracts, North Sea Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), both ended the week around the $ 50 a barrel level, much lower than prices seen in early 2020, but well above minimums seen last year.
In March, Moscow and Riyadh embarked on a brief but intense war on oil prices, which caused prices to plummet.
On April 20, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil dropped to less than $ 40.32 a barrel – meaning that producers paid buyers to get the oil out of their hands.
The climate between the two oil giants has improved since then, with energy ministers from Russia and Saudi Arabia meeting in mid-December in a show of unity.
However, it remains difficult to predict the evolution of demand as governments begin to implement coronavirus vaccination programs.
Last month, OPEC foresaw a slight recovery in the market, at the same time as it noted the continuing uncertainties, mainly in the transport sector.
Despite the weight of OPEC + countries, countries outside the system have a major effect on the oil market; mainly the United States, which still produces 11 million barrels of oil per day.
Even within its ranks, OPEC will have to pay attention to events in the three members who have received quota exemptions – Libya, Iran and Venezuela.
Libya’s production was almost wiped out by the civil conflict, but has increased since October after the signing of a ceasefire agreement.