Opec+ emerges from chaos of 2020 to face balancing act

Opec+ emerges from chaos of 2020 to face balancing act

As one of the most tumultuous years in oil's history ends, a delicate task now lies ahead for Opec+. The alliance of producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia must decide whether it can continue to restore crude supplies without disturbing the price recovery they spent most of 2020 working to achieve. Moscow believes that the group “” which slashed output during the pandemic “” can revive another 500,000 barrels a day of idle capacity in February, on top of an increase scheduled for this month. Riyadh, which has favoured greater caution, is keeping its own views under wraps. Whatever they ultimately decide, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners are leaving nothing to chance. With its January 4 gathering, the coalition is switching to meeting every month “” rather than just a few times a year “” in order to fine-tune production levels more precisely. Last year's challenges for Opec+ began in February, when oil demand in China collapsed 20% as the world's biggest importer locked down to beat the emerging coronavirus. The pace of restoring output will occupy the producers on Monday. Currently idling 7.2 million barrels a day, or about 7% of world supplies, they