Baghdad/NINA/ – Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced on Tuesday that the increase in oil production by the OPEC+ coalition countries is still under analysis.
Novak told the Russian Interfax news agency, in response to a question about whether there are preconditions for increasing crude production, ‘It always depends on the current situation and the balance between supply and demand. All factors are analyzed. At the present time, there is no need to predict anything.’ We have to monitor the performance of the market.’
Last March, the coalition agreed to extend production cuts until the end of next June, and pledged to closely monitor oil markets in the coming months for signs that the market was becoming tight, a shift in tone that some observers considered a sign of readiness to increase supplies.
Novak continued, “We are constantly monitoring the situation, and this is our plan for the second quarter. We have agreed with our colleagues that these voluntary reductions can be modified if
necessary, towards the need to increase supply. This is an ongoing process.”
At the end of last March, Novak reported that Russia, during the second quarter of 2024, would voluntarily, along with a number of OPEC+ countries, reduce oil production in order to share the production cuts fairly with other OPEC+ member countries instead of reducing exports of oil and petroleum products.
Therefore, by next July, Russia must reduce oil production to 9 million barrels per day, according to Interfax.
The OPEC+ alliance includes, in addition to the OPEC countries, Russia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Oman, Sudan, and South Sudan.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency