Today, Thursday, the “OPEC +” group kept its oil production policy unchanged during the month of December, declaring its rejection of the pressures of consumers, led by the United States of America, to increase production strongly.
This came at the conclusion of the 22nd ministerial meeting of the "OPEC +" alliance, which brings together members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries "OPEC" and allies from outside, led by Russia.
The coalition said, in a statement, that it decided to reconfirm the production adjustment plan, which provides for an increase of 400,000 barrels per day during the month of December.
The meeting also renewed, according to the same statement, the continued commitment of the participating countries to ensuring a stable and balanced oil market and an efficient and safe supply to consumers.
The "OPEC +" alliance is scheduled to hold its 23rd ministerial meeting on December 2, 2021.
In a virtual press conference after the meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said: "OPEC is not a monopoly group, but rather producers and market regulators."
Bin Salman added: "We take good care of the oil market and the interests of all producers and consumers, and the markets must be organized so that what we witnessed before the (OPEC +) agreement is not repeated."
He indicated that Saudi Arabia's oil production will rise above 10 million barrels per day for the first time since the Corona pandemic.
For his part, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said during the same conference: "We want to stabilize the oil markets and keep the level of the previously agreed increase of 400,000 barrels per day in December."
Novak added, "Global demand for oil is still affected by the Corona pandemic, and the production boost by 400,000 barrels per day is a correct trend."
The results of the meeting were in line with the expectations of analysts, who indicated that the group will continue with its current strategy, and put an additional 400,000 barrels per day on the market in the last month of this year.
At this pace, the alliance will use all its production capacity in just under a year.
Several countries had recently called on “OPEC +” to increase crude oil supplies with strong demand.
On Sunday, on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty summit in Rome, US President Joe Biden expressed his regret that "Russia, Saudi Arabia and other major producers have refrained from pumping more oil," adding: "This is not fair."
At the beginning of the week, the price of a barrel of crude oil, the West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract, was trading at about $85 per barrel, approaching the highest level since 2014 that prices reached last week.
Other major black gold consumers, such as India and Japan, also prompted the "OPEC +" alliance to act.
But the concern of Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two countries that lead “OPEC +”, about the drop in oil prices in the event of an increase in production, helps explain the rejection of “OPEC +” calls from the United States and other consuming countries to get rid of the production cuts decided at a faster pace last year during the worst stages of the pandemic. .
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