2023-11-22 14:15:06
Vienna (awp/afp) – The ministerial meeting of the countries of the OPEC+ alliance, initially scheduled for Sunday in Vienna, has been rescheduled for November 30, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced in a press release on Wednesday, a postponement which caused a fall in prices.
The thirteen members of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and their ten partners led by Russia must decide on their next production target in the face of falling crude prices.
The OPEC+ announcement, which was not accompanied by any explanation, sent oil prices into the red, with Brent, the European oil benchmark, and WTI, its European equivalent, losing more than 4%. around 2:00 p.m. GMT.
This meeting is indeed eagerly awaited by the markets as prices have fallen since the end of September, with Brent now moving below the $80 mark, against a backdrop of concerns for global demand.
In China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, the post-Covid-19 recovery is proving much more sluggish than expected, and mixed signals are coming from Europe, even the United States.
The current strategy of OPEC+, nine members of which, in particular Riyadh, have reduced their production in recent months to boost prices, has failed to sustainably raise prices.
Analysts report possible differences between the two heavyweights, Riyadh and Moscow.
Recently, “the Saudi Minister of Energy blamed the fall in prices on speculators”, believing that it “did not correspond to market fundamentals”, underlines Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, on the contrary, affirmed on Wednesday that “current oil prices objectively reflect the current situation.”
“They are at a sufficient level and, therefore, the market is balanced. But we will discuss these issues in detail at the next meeting,” he added, quoted by Russian news agencies.
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