OPEC+ Excess Oil Production Rises To 3 Million Bpd
The cumulative excess production of the OPEC+ group has risen to 3 million barrels per day (bpd) through February, up from a cumulative excess production of 2.8 million bpd in January, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing data from the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) meeting today.
The excess production totaled 2.7 million bpd in December 2020, according to the data seen by Reuters.
The compliance with the cuts of the ten OPEC members bound by the OPEC+ pact stood at 124 percent in February, while the compliance rate from the Russia-led non-OPEC group in the alliance was at 94 percent, Amena Bakr, Deputy Bureau Chief & Chief OPEC Correspondent at Energy Intelligence, tweeted on Tuesday. This makes overall compliance for the OPEC+ group 113 percent in February, Bakr added.
The meeting of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) on Tuesday kicks off the monthly meetings of the OPEC+ group and will be followed by a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) on Wednesday and a meeting of the ministers on Thursday.
After the Suez Canal blockage ended, market participants are now focusing on the OPEC+ decision on Thursday on how the group would continue with its oil supply management, considering the recent pullback in oil prices and renewed concerns about demand amid extended lockdowns in Europe and fast-spreading coronavirus variants.
Russia is reportedly favoring a rollover of the alliance’s oil production cuts, but it is seeking a slight increase for itself to meet higher seasonal demand, a source with knowledge of Moscow’s plans told Reuters on Monday.
OPEC’s top producer and de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, is also reportedly ready to extend current OPEC+ production cuts over May and June and also keep cutting 1 million bpd in oil output unilaterally, according to an unnamed source who spoke to Reuters.