Oil is not getting cheaper because the OPEC countries are sticking to their reduced output. The uncertainties on the market are considerable, they say. This also includes the oil price ceiling that the G7 and the EU have decided on for Russian sea deliveries.
The major oil exporting countries are leaving current production levels unchanged. Against the background of the latest sanctions against Russia, representatives of the 23 countries belonging to the OPEC group agreed in a video conference to stick to the course decided in October. The uncertainties on the market are currently considerable, it said.
The OPEC countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and ten other partner countries, above all Russia, agreed two months ago to reduce production by two million barrels (159 liters each) per day from November. That was the sharpest drop since 2020 at the beginning of the Corona crisis.
An Opec committee wants to review the funding strategy every two months. Should the market situation require it, consultations would take place immediately at ministerial level, it said. The next regular ministerial meeting is initially scheduled for June 4, 2023. The influence of the cartel, which expanded in 2016 to include ten non-Opec countries, remains significant. Allianz has a global market share of around 40 percent.
An EU embargo on Russian oil deliveries by ship comes into effect on Monday. The G7 and EU countries as well as Australia on Friday decided on a cap of 60 dollars (57 euros) per barrel for oil transported by sea from Russia.
The price cap is intended to make it more difficult for Moscow to circumvent the sanctions imposed for the war of aggression against Ukraine through sales outside the EU or the G7. Russia had announced in advance that it would no longer supply oil to countries that introduced an upper limit.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that Moscow would not accept the price cap. He added that Moscow had prepared in advance for such a cap, but gave no further details.
