Saudi Arabia plans to increase oil production in the coming months, reversing a recent major cut in production, advisers in the kingdom say, a sign of growing confidence in an oil price recovery.
The world’s biggest oil exporter surprised oil markets last month when he said he would unilaterally cut 1 million barrels a day in oil production in February and March in an effort to raise prices.
But the kingdom plans to announce a reversal of those cuts when a coalition of oil producers meets next month, aides said, in light of the recent price recovery. The increase in production will not begin until April, as the Saudis have already pledged to maintain the cuts until March.
Aides warned that the plans could still be reversed if circumstances change, and the Saudis’ intention has not yet been communicated to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the OPEC people and delegates said.
“We are in a much better place than we were a year ago, but I must warn once again against complacency,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, said at a conference on Wednesday. “The uncertainty is very high and we have to be extremely cautious.”