According to the latest media reports, representatives attending the meeting revealed on Wednesday (November 29th) that the "OPEC+" composed of OPEC member states and non OPEC oil producing countries is considering implementing new production reduction measures, and the daily oil production in 2024 may be reduced by up to 1 million barrels.
The latest decision may be announced at an online meeting scheduled for Thursday (November 30th), and if true, it may push up international crude oil prices.
Last Wednesday, OPEC announced the postponement of the 187th OPEC General Assembly, the 51st Joint Ministerial Supervisory Committee (JMMC) meeting, and the 36th OPEC and Non OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM), originally scheduled for November 26, 2023, for 4 days until November 30. Two days later, the organization issued another statement announcing that the offline meeting on November 30th would be changed to an online meeting.
The attending representatives emphasized that the new production reduction measures cannot be guaranteed yet, as this idea faces significant resistance within OPEC. They stated that negotiations are still ongoing and the most likely scenario is to extend the existing production restrictions.
In June this year, OPEC+announced at the 35th ONOMM that it would extend its production reduction agreement until 2024 and adjust its total crude oil production target for 2024 to an average of 40.46 million barrels per day.
In order to achieve this goal, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producing country, voluntarily reduced its daily crude oil production by an additional 1 million barrels starting from July, reducing its daily production to 9 million barrels.
Representatives stated that Saudi Arabia supports new production reduction measures at tomorrow's meeting, but Nigeria and Angola, the two largest oil producing countries in Africa within the organization, have been dissatisfied with the reduced quotas. They also stated that the UAE, whose quotas have been raised, is unwilling to further reduce production.
The representatives also mentioned that the conflict in the Middle East was not mentioned in the OPEC dialogue. Despite geopolitical turmoil, the price of international benchmark Brent crude oil has still fallen by about 7% since October 7th, currently reporting $82 per barrel.
According to a report by US investment bank Goldman Sachs, Saudi Arabia has started a series of grand projects, including building a giant new city in the desert. The bank expects Saudi Arabia to need oil prices above $88 per barrel to balance its fiscal budget.