OPEC and its partners estimate that they have implemented 99% of the oil supply restrictions agreed in January, according to a delegate who asked not to be identified.
The 23-nation alliance known as OPEC + aimed to retain 7.2 million barrels of oil per day from the market last month – about 7% of global supply. They agreed to increase production by 500,000 barrels as of December, as part of a plan to facilitate cuts.
Compliance data is preliminary and will be analyzed on Tuesday by the group’s Joint Technical Committee.
OPEC + agreed to unprecedented supply restrictions last April, after the coronavirus pandemic landed planes, paralyzed economies and caused oil prices to fall. The benchmark Brent crude oil almost tripled since its low that month, to $ 56 a barrel, although it is still below what most OPEC + nations need to balance their budgets.
No policy changes
The implementation in January was 103% among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and 93% for its non-OPEC partners, a group that includes Russia and Kazakhstan.
The JTC will present its assessment to the Joint Ministerial Follow-up Committee, which will meet on Wednesday to discuss the alliance’s strategy. The JMMC is unlikely to recommend any policy changes, according to delegates who refused to be identified.
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After the modest increase in production in January, OPEC + decided to keep production unchanged in February and March. However, Saudi Arabia, the most influential member of the group, has promised a unilateral cut of 1 million barrels per day during this period.
Iraq, the largest OPEC + producer after Saudi Arabia and Russia, said it would cut its daily production to 3.6 million barrels in January and February to compensate for your quota violation last year. That would be a reduction of around 250,000 barrels a day from December.
OPEC + will hold a full ministerial meeting in early March to decide its next steps.