ZCZC
BCN-16
RUSSIA-OPEC-OIL-PRODUCTION
Russia welcomes OPEC decision to increase oil production within OPEC
VIENNA, June 23, (BSS/TASS) – Russia welcomes OPEC’s decision to
increase oil production by 1 mln barrels per day withing the OPEC+ deal,
Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak told reporters. “This decision is
in line with the proposals that were worked out by the monitoring committee,
which corresponds to today’s ideas about what needs to be done on the market.
I think that at this stage 1 mln barrels is reasonable,” he said. He noted
that many market participants agree with increasing oil production and within
the framework of the forthcoming meeting of OPEC+ there will be many willing
to comment on the recommendation of the monitoring committee to increase oil
production by 1 mln barrels per day in the framework of the OPEC + agreement.
“We have a lot of countries, there are many who want to speak, I think,” the
Minister said. The OPEC ministers at a meeting on Friday decided to increase
oil production within the OPEC+ deal by 1 mln barrels per day. On Saturday,
June 23, the final decision will be made at a meeting of OPEC+, which
includes a number of oil-exporting countries, including Russia. The OPEC+
agreement, which unites 24 countries, has been in effect since the beginning
of 2017. Over the past few months, the plan has been overfulfilled, including
through declining production in Venezuela and a number of African countries.
As of May of this year, the level of performance has reached 150%, which
means that the deal participants reduced production by 2.7 mln barrels per
day instead of the expected 1.8 mln barrels against the level of October
2016. Against the backdrop of over-fulfillment of the agreement, the
ministers of the OPEC + countries started talking about the need to soften
quotas and gradually restore production from the second half of 2018. The
meeting of the ministerial monitoring committee of OPEC+, which usually
proceeds from the recommendations and future scenarios of the technical
committee, was held on June 21 in Vienna. The ministerial monitoring
committee, which includes six countries – Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kuwait,
Venezuela, Oman and Algeria, in turn, makes recommendations to the OPEC+
meeting in large numbers, which is held on June 22-23.
BSS/TASS/HR/1430