OPEC and its partners estimate that they have implemented 99% of the oil supply boards agreed in January, according to a delegate who asked not to be appointed.
The 23-nation alliance, known as OPEC +, aimed to seize 7.2 million barrels of crude oil a day last month – about 7% of global supply. They agreed to increase production by 500,000 barrels in December, as part of a plan to reduce the cuts.
Compliance data are preliminary and will be reviewed by the group’s Joint Technical Committee on Tuesday.
OPEC + agreed to unprecedented supply restrictions in April last year after a coronavirus pandemic brought planes down, shutting down economies and causing oil prices to plummet. Brent crude has almost tripled since the beginning of its month to $ 56 a barrel, although it is still below what most OPEC + countries need to balance their budgets.
No policy changes
Implementation in January was 103% among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 93% for their non-OPEC partners, a group that includes Russia and Kazakhstan.
The JTC will present its assessment to the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which meets on Wednesday to discuss the alliance’s strategy. JMMC is unlikely to recommend policy changes, according to delegates who refused to be identified.
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Following 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 reduction of 1 million barrels every day during that period.
Iraq, the largest producer of OPEC + after Saudi Arabia and Russia, said it would reduce its daily production to 3.6 million barrels in January and February by compensates for the violation of its quota last year. This would represent a reduction of about 250,000 barrels per day since December.
OPEC + will hold a full ministerial meeting in early March to decide on the next steps.