Saudi Arabia and Russia, the key OPEC+ partners, will be keeping their oil supply cuts in November despite the recent crude oil price rally.
Hours before a regular OPEC+ panel meeting, Saudi Arabia said early on Wednesday it would continue cutting an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from its crude oil production in November and December, and Russia said in a separate statement it would continue to reduce oil exports by 300,000 bpd until the end of the year.
The near-simultaneous announcements from the two leaders of the OPEC+ alliance did not surprise the market, although some analysts have suggested that the Kingdom could begin easing the cut sooner than oil market participants believe as the world’s top crude oil exporter wouldn’t risk demand destruction through too high prices.
Saudi Arabia continues with the extra 1 million bpd cut in November and December and thus the Kingdom’s oil production will be approximately 9 million bpd until the end of the year, the Saudi Ministry of Energy said as carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
“This voluntary cut decision will be reviewed next month to consider deepening the cut or increasing production,” the agency noted.
At the same time, Alexander Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister and top oil representative of the country at OPEC+ meetings, said in an official statement that Moscow would continue with the 300,000-bpd cut to oil exports by the end of the year. Russia also said it would review the decision next month after analyzing the market.
Both Saudi Arabia and Russia reiterated today that the ongoing oil supply cuts are aimed at keeping “stability and balance on the oil markets.”
The announcements came only hours before the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of OPEC+ meets for a regular discussion of the oil market developments in recent weeks. Expectations were that no changes would be made to decisions about supply during the meeting.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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I called the Saudi cut as the cut that never was since Saudi Arabia is probably unable anyway to supply the 1.0 million barrels a day (mbd) in exports that it was supposed to have cut without tapping its oil inventory. This is a practice the Saudis have been using for years but they will have now to reduce it very drastically otherwise they will deplete their inventory and will then find themselves in a very serious situation. Moreover, the cut has nothing to do with the market and prices and everything to do with production difficulties. A reduced Saudi production is going to become a permanent fixture of the global oil market from now on.
The Russian export cut of 300,000 barrels a day (b/d) is merely a gesture of solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Russia’s crude and petroleum products exports haven’t been affected by the cut since higher taxes on petroleum products in the domestic market have reduced domestic demand thus enabling Russia to maintain its exports level intact.
And with robust global demand and rising prices, things are going well for OPEC+. Therefore, it sees no reason to alter its production upward or downward.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert