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The meeting comes amid rising prices towards the end of last year, despite market uncertainty.
Members of the OPEC Oil Producers Group and their partners will meet by video conference on Monday to decide production levels for February, hoping to get past a difficult year.
The OPEC + ministerial meeting comes after oil consumption fell in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Despite a rise in prices towards the end of last year, black gold market levels remain uncertain.
After their last summit, from November 30 to December 3, OPEC + members agreed to increase production by half a million barrels per day in January.
The 13 members of the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC cartel and their six Russian-led allies also agreed to meet at the start of each month to decide on any adjustments to production volumes for the following month. .
Russia and Saudi Arabia are respectively the second and third largest oil producers in the world after the United States.
This decision illustrates OPEC’s desire to maintain a strong influence on the oil market and the gravity of the situation for crude producers last year.
Before the pandemic, OPEC members were content with two summits a year at the organization’s headquarters in Vienna.
“Finally, we saw a strong demonstration of OPEC + ‘s willingness and ability to manage the market, laying the groundwork for the recovery of Brent to over $ 50 a barrel despite the uncertainty of demand on the market. market, ”JBC Energy analysts said in a statement.
The two benchmark contracts, North Sea Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude both ended the week around the $ 50 per barrel level, well below prices seen in early 2020 but well up from the price. lows of last year.
In March, Moscow and Riyadh embarked on a brief but intense oil price war that resulted in prices falling.
On April 20, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slumped to minus $ 40.32 a barrel, meaning producers paid buyers to get the oil out of their hands.
The climate between the two oil giants has since eased, with Russian and Saudi energy ministers meeting in mid-December in a sign of unity.
However, it remains difficult to predict the evolution of demand as governments begin to roll out vaccination programs against the coronavirus.
OPEC last month predicted a slight rebound in the market while noting lingering uncertainties, particularly in the transportation sector.
Despite the weight of OPEC + countries, countries outside the system have a major effect on the oil market; mainly the United States which still produces 11 million barrels of crude per day.
Even within its ranks, OPEC will have to pay attention to developments in the three members that have obtained quota exemptions – Libya, Iran and Venezuela.
Libyan production had been almost wiped out by the civil war, but has increased since October after the signing of a ceasefire agreement.
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