Strong demand for oil products is helping to drag oil prices higher, although the risk of a U.S. default and the upcoming OPEC+ meeting are the two major factors oil markets are watching.
ABU DHABI, May 9 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates’ energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Tuesday that additional voluntary output cuts by the OPEC+ producer group were implemented to balance the oil market.
In response to the IEA’s warning made on Wednesday that OPEC should be careful not to cut too much production lest they jack up prices too high, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) issued a warning of its own to the IEA: your calls to stop investing in oil and gas is what could lead to future price volatility, OPEC said in a Thursday statement.
Oil prices surged on Monday, jolted by a surprise announcement by OPEC+ to cut production further in what top producer Saudi Arabia called a precautionary measure to support market stability.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and fellow oil-producing allies (OPEC+) are back in the driver’s seat as U.S. shale oil is no longer the marginal fuel due to President Joe Biden’s anti-oil and gas policies.
Oil prices have been largely rangebound since the OPEC+ announcement that it would cut production sent prices soaring at the start of last week. While strong U.S. job growth and the resultant strengthening of the dollar took some steam out of the rally, demand optimism and Russia’s production cut helped to keep prices from falling.
The surprise huge new cut in oil production from ‘OPEC+’ – the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC group of countries ‘plus’ Russia – highlights that any optimism over a possible rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and its previous key superpower ally, the U.S.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, drilled 30.6 million less barrels of oil in January and February compared to the quota allocated to the country by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) during the period, a THISDAY analysis has indicated.
The OPEC+ group will not be racing to react to this week’s oil price plunge and will wait for financial markets to calm down after the banking sector scare, consultants at Energy Aspects said in a note carried by Bloomberg on Thursday.
Russia expects its oil and gas production to fall this year compared to 2022, partly due to the production cuts announced for March, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov told lawmakers on Wednesday.