The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have reached an agreement in principle to increase oil production quotas by 206,000 barrels per day in May this year. It was reported by Reuters with reference to its own sources.
The OPEC+ talks took place today, April 5, at 4 p.m. Kyiv time. They are to be followed by a ministerial meeting of the cartel members and their allies. Later, the eight members of the OPEC+ format will hold talks.
Unnnamed sources told Reuters that these eight OPEC+ members have tentatively agreed to increase oil production quotas by 206,000 barrels per day in May. This will correspond to the increase in production in April, which was decided at the meeting on March 1.
Opec+ sources emphasized that the increase in quotas will not have a significant and immediate impact on oil supplies, as the key members of the cartel are the Persian Gulf countries. Currently, shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, is blocked due to the war between Israel and the United States against Iran.
At the same time, the cartel's decision should be taken as a signal of readiness to increase production as soon as the Strait of Hormuz is opened, Reuters sources added.
The war against Iran has significantly reduced exports for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq, the only cartel countries that were able to significantly increase production.
The aggressor countries russia and Iran, which are also members of the OPEC+ group, cannot increase production due to Western sanctions. In addition, russia is regularly attacked by Ukraine, which damages its export infrastructure.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on March 12, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a report according to which russia has broken through another bottom in terms of oil exports - up to 6.6 million barrels per day. This is one of the lowest figures since 2022.
Last Thursday, April 2, Reuters wrote, citing sources, that due to the consequences of the latest Ukrainian attacks, russia will inevitably cut oil production.
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