OPEC + expects continued production to rise in February, Reuters sources

By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Olesya Astakhova

LONDON / MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC + will hold plans to increase production in February when it meets on Tuesday due to a light and short-term impact on demand for the Omicron coronavirus variant, according to three sources in the oil producer group. Reuters on Monday.

OPEC +, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a group of allies led by Russia, have gradually broken the record for oil production agreed in March, a record production of 10 million barrels (bpd) per day. To meet the demand for the 2020 pandemic.

Current plans would raise the February production target to 400,000 bpd, as it has done every month since August, since the rest of the cuts began to release 5.8 million bpd.

At the end of January, the group will have a reduction of around 3.4 million bpd by the end of September, according to the July 2021 agreement.

OPEC met on Monday and Haitham al-Ghais, the former Kuwaiti governor of OPEC, agreed to appoint his new secretary general, replacing Nigeria’s Mohammad Barkindo, according to an OPEC note.

Al-Ghais will take office on August 1.

“I would like to congratulate Haitham Al Ghais on his appointment as HE’s next Secretary-General of OPEC, with applause,” said Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.

The applause, a more informal process, was the idea of ​​the Saudi energy minister, according to a source familiar with the matter, and is far from a vote to seek consensus among all member states, who used to be the secretary of the election. generals harder.

The appointment, at the start of a one-hour meeting, is at odds with previous lengthy elections, when some countries have sometimes nominated candidates.

In a technical report released by Reuters on Sunday, OPEC + downplayed the Omicron variant in the oil market.

“The impact is expected to be light and short-lived, as the world is better equipped to handle COVID-19 and related challenges,” said the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) report.

“In addition to the stable economic outlook for both emerging and emerging economies,” he added.

While the team is raising its goals, its production rise has not kept pace as some members are struggling with capacity cuts.

OPEC + oil producers exceeded production targets by 650,000 bpd in November and 730,000 bpd in October, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said last month. [IEA/M]

Chart: Oil Market Balances in 2022- https://graphics.reuters.com/OIL-OPEC/klvykqgezvg/chart.png

Under the basic scenario of the JTC report, OECD commercial oil will fall below the 2015-2019 average in 2022 in the first three quarters, and will rise by 24 million barrels above that in the fourth quarter.

The data, however, show the group in the oil market forecast compared to the previous December forecast.

The 2021 deficit was revised to 300,000 bpd to 1.5 million bpd and the 2022 surplus was reduced from 1.7 million bpd to 1.4 million bpd.