Vienna (EFE).- The OPEC+ oil alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, confirmed this Sunday that it will increase crude oil production by 206,000 barrels per day, “in view of the stable outlook and low oil reserves”, without mentioning the war with Iran, which keeps markets in tension.
That is the result of a brief teleconference held this Sunday by the Energy and Oil Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, according to a statement published on the website of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), based in Vienna.
The group’s statement, published on the OPEC website, does not mention the war with Iran triggered on Friday morning by the American and Israeli attacks, which threatens to stop much of the oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the attack on Iran, which with some 3.3 million barrels per day is the fourth largest producer in OPEC, has raised fears not only due to the interruption of the Islamic Republic’s exports, but also due to Tehran’s threat, announced on Saturday night, to prevent maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
The oil alliance justifies the decision to increase extraction with “the stable global economic outlook and the current healthy basic market indicators, reflected in the low stored oil reserves.”
Phased increases in oil production
The increase of 206,000 barrels per day during the month of April is part of the dynamic of gradually undoing the cut of 1.65 million barrels per day, decided in April 2023, through staggered increases in production, the note adds.
This process, started last year but frozen in the last three months, will continue gradually and in accordance with market conditions until the volume of the cut 1.65 million barrels is reached “in part or completely,” the statement said.
The next meeting of the eight leading countries of the OPEC+ group will take place on April 5, the note concludes.
