VIENNA: Despite a drop in oil prices around $70 per barrel this week, OPEC and its partners are unlikely to decide on additional oil production restrictions at a meeting on Sunday, two sources from the alliance said on Friday, but another said the outcome was still uncertain.
Around 40% of the world’s crude is produced by OPEC+, a grouping comprising the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, therefore the group’s political actions can have a significant effect on oil prices.
When OPEC+ ministers meet on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Vienna (1200 GMT), two sources within the organisation said they did not anticipate the group to agree to additional output curbs. OPEC ministers will first convene on Saturday at 11 a.m.
According to sources, those anticipated to arrive in Vienna later on Friday include the United Arab Emirates’ and Algeria’s energy ministers as well as Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
OPEC+ unlikely to increase oil production restrictions at meeting on June 4, according to sources
As the economy’s outlook worsened, a number of OPEC+ countries announced in April that they would make voluntary cuts starting in May, in addition to the 2 million barrels per day (bpd) that had been decided upon last year.
With ministerial bilateral meetings anticipated before to the meeting, another source stated that it was too early to predict the outcome of the Sunday meeting. The concept of formalising the voluntary cuts as an OPEC+ decision was being considered, according to a fourth source.
Oil prices rose by roughly $9 per barrel to above $87 as a result of the unexpected revelation in April, but they then declined to trade around $75 on Friday as worries about demand and global economic growth increased.
Prince Abdulaziz warned investors who he claimed were shorting the oil price to “watch out” last week, which many market observers saw as a threat of further supply restrictions.
However, according to Russian media, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak later stated he did not anticipate any fresh actions from OPEC+ in Vienna.
