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2023.04.02 22:09 GMT+8

OPEC+ announces voluntary oil output cuts, U.S. calls move inadvisable

Updated 2023.04.03 08:55 GMT+8
CGTN

Flames emerge from flare stacks at Nahr Bin Umar oil field, north of Basra, Iraq, March 9, 2020. /Reuters

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers on Sunday announced further oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day, a move that analysts said would cause an immediate rise in prices and the United States called inadvisable.

The pledges bring the total volume of cuts by OPEC+ to 3.66 million bpd, according to Reuters calculations, equal to 3.7 percent of global demand.

Top OPEC producer Saudi Arabia said it would cut output by 500,000 bpd. The ministry clarified that the decision is a precautionary measure aimed at supporting the stability of the global oil market.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and Algeria said they would voluntarily cut output over the same time period.

The UAE said it would cut production by 144,000 bpd, Kuwait announced a cut of 128,000 bpd while Iraq said it would cut output by 211,000 bpd. Oman announced a cut of 40,000 bpd, with Algeria saying it would cut its output by 48,000 bpd.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow would extend a voluntary cut of 500,000 bpd until the end of 2023. 

"OPEC is taking pre-emptive steps in case of any possible demand reduction," Amrita Sen, founder and director of Energy Aspects, said.

Sunday's development comes a day before a virtual meeting of an OPEC+ ministerial panel, which had been expected to stick to 2 million bpd of cuts already in place until the end of 2023.

Oil prices last month fell towards $70 a barrel, the lowest in 15 months, on concern that a global banking crisis would hit demand. Still, further action by OPEC+ to support the market was not expected after sources downplayed this prospect and crude recovered towards $80.

The latest reductions could lift oil prices by $10 per barrel, the head of investment firm Pickering Energy Partners said on Sunday, while oil broker PVM said it expected an immediate jump once trading starts after the weekend.

The Biden administration said it sees the move announced by the producers on Sunday as unwise.

"We don't think cuts are advisable at this moment given market uncertainty – and we've made that clear," a spokesperson for the National Security Council said.

(With input from Reuters)

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