At the most recent meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which was held over videoconferencing, the OPEC+ group together decided to leave their production of crude oil quotas unchanged.
The move was widely anticipated. Saudi Arabia and Russia announced in separate statements prior to the meeting that they would continue a voluntary production cut of a million barrels per day (bpd), and an export cut of 300,000 bpd, until at least the end of this year. They both said their decisions would be reviewed again next month, with easing and deepening the cuts both being on the table.
In a press release, the committee said about this:
“The committee also expressed its full recognition and support for the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aimed at supporting the stability of the oil market, and reiterated its appreciation for the Kingdom’s additional voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day and for extending it till end of December 2023.”
The Saudi and Russian cuts have been mitigated by increasing US production from operators like ExxonMobil and Chevron, which also make gear oil, hydraulic oil, and other lubricants under the Mobil and Texaco brands.
While the price of oil has rallied in recent weeks in response to the abovementioned cuts to approach $100 per barrel for Brent crude, it has since fallen back to $85, as traders began to sell off their holdings due to fears that interest rates may remain higher for longer than expected, and temper the demand for crude oil.
