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LONDON / MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC and its Russian-led allies are ready to adjust their plans for a gradual increase in oil production by 2 million barrels per day in the coming months depending on market conditions. market, said OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo. on Sunday.
Barkindo was speaking at an expert meeting of OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC +, according to comments published by OPEC. OPEC + will meet on Monday to decide on exit policies for February.
In December, OPEC + decided to increase production by 0.5 million b / d from January as part of the 2 million b / d increase, but some members questioned the need for a further increase from February due to the spread of coronavirus infections.
OPEC + was forced to cut production by a record amount in 2020 as global lockdowns against the virus hammered demand for fuels.
OPEC + first reduced production by 9.7 million bpd, then reduced the cuts to 7.7 million and finally to 7.2 million from January.
Barkindo said OPEC now expects global oil demand to reach 95.9 million b / d in 2021, or 5.9 million b / d from 2020, as the economy world is expected to grow by 4.4%.
Even though the development of coronavirus vaccines has injected optimism into the global economy and oil markets, rising demand for oil is still failing to bring consumption back to pre-pandemic levels of around 100 million bpd.
OPEC’s latest December forecast was lower than previous forecast of a 6.25 million bpd increase in 2021 due to the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Alex Lawler; Written by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Edited by Alison Williams and Susan Fenton
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