Russia: OPEC+ meet tomorrow, Saturday
Oil prices jump and Brent heads to 14% weekly gain
The Russian Energy Ministry announced today, Friday, that the “OPEC +” meeting will be held tomorrow, Saturday, the 6th of June. “I confirm this,” the official spokeswoman for the Russian ministry told Sputnik news agency, in response to a question about the “OPEC+” meeting.
According to some sources, proposed times for the meeting are 3:00 pm Riyadh time for OPEC and 5:00 PM for OPEC+.
The Russian news agency “TASS” reported that the talks are scheduled to be completed within one day, and that OPEC ministers begin the meeting at 1200 GMT, a price joined by their counterparts in “OPEC Plus” after two hours.
The talks were originally scheduled to be held, via video link, on Tuesday and Wednesday. OPEC did not immediately confirm the change of date.
The allies agreed in “OPEC Plus” last April to reduce production by 9.7 million barrels per day during May and June, by 7.7 million barrels in the second half of this year, and by another 5.8 million barrels until the end of April 2022. Tomorrow, Saturday, the meeting will consider extending the current production cuts for a longer period.
Oil prices rose on Friday, as traders awaited the indicators of the meeting, as major oil producers will discuss whether to extend record production cuts. Brent crude futures rose $ 1.09, or 2.73 percent, to $ 41.08 a barrel by 0943 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 75 cents, or 2 percent, to $ 38.16 a barrel.
Brent has gained about 14 per cent since the beginning of this week, while West Texas Intermediate crude has risen nearly 6 per cent, bringing the benchmarks crude to the path of achieving gains for the sixth week. The rise stemmed from production cuts in light of signs of improved fuel demand, as countries began easing public isolation measures imposed to prevent the spread of the emerging Corona virus.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, including Russia, in a so-called “OPEC +” group, will meet on Saturday to discuss extending production cuts.
And sources in the “OPEC +” had mentioned, earlier, that a ministerial meeting via video conference may be held this week, if Iraq and others agree to strengthen their commitment to the existing production cuts.
It is worth noting that the “OPEC +” group was expected to hold a meeting on Thursday, but was postponed amid talks on the failure of some countries of the agreement to meet their quotas from production cuts.
SOURCE: attaqa.net
