OPEC+ sticks to output increase as prices soar

OPEC+ sticks to output increase as prices soar

LONDON: The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its key allies decided at a meeting yesterday to stick to planned moderate increases in output for November despite soaring crude prices. A statement released after the brief videoconference meeting of the OPEC+ alliance said that participants had agreed to stick to the schedule agreed in July, namely to “adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.4 million bpd (barrels per day) for the month of November 2021”.

Kuwait’s oil minister yesterday praised the effective polices of OPEC and its allies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying such measures helped balance the global oil market. There is prevailing sense of “optimism” in the global oil market given the OPEC+ alliance’s commitment to a deal on hiking output to 400,000 bpd on a monthly basis until November, Mohammad Al-Fares said in an oil ministry statement.

As per the deal, Kuwait will contribute a share of 27,000 bpd, added the minister, saying that as vaccination campaigns pick up speed across the world, an economic rebound is likely to occur, helping restore stability and balance to the oil market. On the gradual hike in oil production, OPEC and its ally Russia will continue to tread cautiously given