OPEC Secretary-General calls to be cautious in oil market

OPEC+ countries still need to be careful in their oil market operations as volatility and uncertainty remain due to the coronavirus pandemic, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said following the meeting of the OPEC+ technical committee on Tuesday, Report informs with reference to TASS.

“The Secretary-General stressed the need to remain very careful and attentive to changing market conditions. The previous month brought many positive developments, but it also reminded us of the continued uncertainty and instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads a message of the secretariat following the meeting.

OPEC+ countries have been showing caution since late 2020 when they effectively abandoned the planned strategy to ease restrictions on oil production. In January, they increased production by only 0.5 million barrels per day instead of 1.9 million barrels per day. For February - April, they completely retained the production level, while Saudi Arabia promised to further reduce 1 million barrels per day. And only Russia and Kazakhstan got the opportunity to slightly increase production.

This week, at a meeting on March 31 and April 1, the OPEC + countries will consider production levels for the period after April. According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia plans to maintain the adopted limits for May - June.