Vienna (AFP) – The OPEC+ alliance of major oil-producing nations has postponed a weekend meeting to December 5 in what analysts said were signs of disagreement among the group over plans to increase output. The 22-member OPEC+ group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, was due to decide on its 2025 output policy at a ministerial meeting originally scheduled for Sunday.
However, the Vienna-based Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in a statement Thursday that the meeting was “rescheduled” to December 5 “as several Ministers will be attending the 45th Gulf Summit in Kuwait City”. An OPEC spokesman told AFP that the December meeting will be held online.
In a bid to boost crude prices, eight OPEC+ members announced earlier this month they were extending supply cuts until the end of December. In recent days, oil prices had won support from the prospect that key OPEC+ members would delay a pick-up in production, which was due to begin in January.
Rystad Energy analyst Jorge Leon raised doubts that the meeting’s postponement was due to a scheduling conflict with the Gulf Summit. “The dates were set a long time ago, so it’s not that they realised three days ago that there is a clash,” Leon said. “What it might be hinting is that the group needs a little bit more time to decide what to do next,” he told AFP.
There “seem to be divergent views, and the delaying might help align them before the meeting”. The eight nations that have extended production cuts are Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. They have been delaying production increases amid concerns over slowing demand, which has weighed on oil prices in recent months.
Analysts say that if OPEC nations maintain their output cuts, their market share could fall as non-OPEC nations continue to produce more. And if the group raises production, prices will drop. “The oil market in 2025 has no room for additional OPEC+ barrels,” said analysts at DNB, Norway’s largest bank.
© 2024 AFP
