A Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (Opep +) agreed this Thursday (2) to maintain their current policy of increasing monthly production of Petroleum, despite fears that a release of US reserves and the new variant of the coronavirus, Ômicron, could lead to a further slump in the price of oil.
Brent was down more than $1 on the decision, trading below $70 a barrel, well below the three-year highs recorded in October, above $86. 2022 rose 0.89%, to US$ 69.46.
Prices in November had already registered their biggest monthly drop since the beginning of the pandemic.
Under the existing covenant, the Opep+ agreed to increase production by 400,000 bpd (barrels per day) per month, to end record cuts agreed in 2020, when demand dropped because of the pandemic.
The agreement to fulfill that pact and add 400,000 bpd in January, confirmed by a draft statement by Opep+ and sources of organization, took prices below $67 before they regained some ground.
A Opep+ has resisted the requests of USA by faster increases in oil production to help the global economy, fearing the excess supply could undermine the fragile energy sector recovery.
Washington repeatedly asked the Opep that produced more as the prices of the gasoline in the United States skyrocketed and the president’s approval ratings Joe Biden they fell.
Ahead of the meeting, sources said market uncertainties had led the group to consider options such as halting the planned increase in January or increasing production by a smaller volume.
Even before concerns arose about the Ômicron variant, a Opep+ was weighing the effects of last week’s announcement by the United States and other major consumers that they would release oil reserves emergency measures to moderate energy prices.
Any decision to increase production by less than 400,000 bpd in January or even cut supply would have placed the Opep in total confrontation with Washington amid already tepid relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, leader of the organization.
Last year, the Opep+ made record production cuts of 10 million bpd, equivalent to about 10% of global supply. This has since been reduced to around 3.8 million bpd.
However, it has regularly failed to meet its production targets, producing about 700,000 bpd less than planned in September and October, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Reference: CNN Brasil
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