The US “Bloomberg” agency said, on Saturday, that the “OPEC +” alliance is increasingly moving to take a decision to abandon plans to increase oil production, during the next week.
This news comes after a new mutant of the Corona virus called "Omicron", caused crude prices to fall below $ 75, its lowest level in more than a year.
The US agency quoted unnamed sources as saying that the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and Russia is moving strongly towards reversing the plan that was developed to make a small increase in production during the month of January.
The members of "OPEC +" are scheduled to meet in early December; To discuss the next step regarding production.
The group was already considering stopping the increase temporarily, after the United States and other consumers announced the release of emergency oil stocks, last Monday.
Crude oil futures witnessed a significant decline of more than 10% in both London and New York, due to fears that the new strain of the Corona virus could falter the fragile economic recovery.
According to the established plan, the producers of "OPEC +" would have added another 400,000 barrels per day to the market next January, as they sought to gradually restore production that stopped during the spread of the epidemic, last year.
The coalition was already considering stopping that increase temporarily after US President Joe Biden led a series of releases of strategic oil stocks in several countries; In order to tame gasoline prices and rampant inflation.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman warned that global crude oil markets are set to return to oversupply over the next month, and that demand is under threat from new infections.
An internal research by the Organization of "OPEC" indicated that there is a large surplus forming by early next year, and this surplus will continue to increase if the United States and its partners use their strategic reserves.
The emergence of the new virus strain, with its obvious risks to fuel consumption, may make it easier to advocate for a production freeze, so much so that UBS went on to say that OPEC+ might consider cutting production.
It is unclear whether this pause will have the full support of the group, which meets every month to review the restoration of suspended production through small increases.
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