OPEC+ extends oil supply cuts through March

OPEC+ extends oil supply cuts through March

By Fly Cable News reports

Several OPEC+ countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed Thursday to extend oil supply cuts for three months through March to avoid a sharp drop in prices in a global market awash in crude.

The decision had been widely expected, though dissension that caused the meeting to be delayed by a few days had created some doubts that the oil cartel would maintain the cuts. Eight OPEC+ countries will extend their “voluntary adjustments” of 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of March, the Vienna-based group said in a statement following a virtual meeting.

After that, those cuts “will be gradually phased out” on a monthly basis until the end of September 2026, the group said, adding this is “subject to market conditions”. Without a new agreement, the eight countries were set to begin increasing production beginning in January to gradually return it to 2023 levels.

Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have already twice pushed back the production increases that were set to have begun in October and then in December.