The OPEC+ group, led by the major oil producers in the Middle East and Russia, left in early February their output targets unchanged and signalled they would not hurry to change the policy even after Russia announced a cut in its oil production for March.
OPEC, meanwhile, raised slightly its global oil demand forecast, on the back of expectations that a Chinese rebound after the reopening will drive half of this year’s consumption growth worldwide.
OPEC+ Not Changing Production Policy For Now.
The OPEC+ alliance agreed at the beginning of February that the target production – decided last year and effective by December 2023 – will be reaffirmed for the next few months.
The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the group, which recommends policy actions to the OPEC+ ministerial meetings, reaffirmed the commitment to the agreement from October 2022, which reduced the alliance’s collective production target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd).