OPEC+ Expected to Stay the Course on Oil Output Plans

OPEC+ Expected to Stay the Course on Oil Output Plans

OPEC+ is expected to rubber stamp a planned output increase of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in December. Reuters

An OPEC+ committee largely stuck to forecasts of a strong demand rebound this year and next ahead of a meeting next week, at which the group is expected to rubber stamp a planned output increase of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in December.

The Joint Technical Committee (JTC), which met on Thursday, now expects oil demand to grow by 5.7 million bpd in 2021, 120,000 bpd below OPEC's forecast in its latest monthly report, two OPEC+ sources told Reuters.

The JTC left its demand forecast for next year steady at 4.2 million bpd, one of the sources said.

That source said the revision for 2021 was "nothing to worry about" because it was an update of actual data and rounding.

OPEC+ forecasts are still higher than those of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which expects oil demand to grow by 5.5 million bpd in 2021 and 3.3 million bpd in 2022.

Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and their allies - collectively known as OPEC+ - meet on Nov. 4 to decide output policy.

This week Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told