The biggest oil producers decided to continue increasing output by 400,000 barrels per day in March to maintain the supply-and-demand balance.
As co-chair, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak held the 25th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting via videoconference. The participants reviewed the implementation of the voluntary commitments by major oil producers to regulate production in December 2021 and discussed forecasts for developments in 2022.
Following the consultations, the participants decided to extend their earlier agreements and adjust the monthly overall production upward by a total of 400,000 barrels per day for the month of March 2022.
It was noted that in general the OPEC+ countries are successfully fulfilling the recommendations on production increases, with overall production reaching 122 percent in December 2021. The delegates emphasised that the countries that failed to comply with their voluntary commitments should adhere to the adopted agreements.
Regarding the results of the meeting, Alexander Novak said that despite the persisting uncertainties over the impact of the Omicron strain, the global demand for oil and oil products continues to rise. Russia’s conformity is high, close to 100 percent, and in March 2022, Russian oil companies will increase output by an additional 100,000 barrels per day under the OPEC+ agreements.
“This will allow us to restore production to about 90 percent of pre-reduction levels. As a reminder, in May 2020, Russia reduced output by 2 million barrels per day. Considering the latest decision, we will have restored 1.8 million barrels of daily production in March,” Alexander Novak said.
The 26th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting is scheduled for 2 March 2022.
