OPEC + will not change the political course until June

Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday it would be too early to change OPEC+ output policy at the group’s meeting in April and that China and the U.S. would lead healthy global demand for oil this year. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies such as Russia — known as the OPEC+ alliance — will meet in Vienna on April 17-18, with another gathering scheduled for June 25-26.

Falih said the group was unlikely to change its output policy in April and if required would make adjustments in June. “We will see what happens by April, if there is any unforeseen disruption somewhere else, but barring this I think we will just be kicking the can forward,” Falih said. “We will see where the market is by June and adjust appropriately,” Falih said after a meeting with Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi.

OPEC’s share of the cuts is 800,000 bpd, to be delivered by 11 members — all except Iran, Libya and Venezuela, which are exempt. The baseline for the reduction was in most cases their output in October 2018. In Venezuela, suffering from a political and economic crisis, oil exports have plunged 40 percent to around 920,000 bpd since Washington slapped sanctions on its petroleum industry on Jan. 28. On the other hand, production in U.S. hit a record of more than 12 million bpd in February.

Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih says no OPEC+ output policy change until June, CNBC, Mar 11