Opec-Plus May Push Full Ministerial Meeting to May

The Opec-plus producer alliance may push back its next full ministerial meeting from next week to May because several members don't see any need to adjust production policy, several delegates told Energy Intelligence. At the alliance's last online gathering earlier this month, a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting and a full Opec-plus ministerial meeting were both penciled in for Apr. 28. But with Brent oil futures recently trading in the mid- to high $60s per barrel after the alliance's decision to gradually increase production in May-July, some members don't feel it is necessary to hold a full ministerial meeting next week. "There is no need to have another meeting this month, that's why there are talks to push back the meeting to May," an Opec-plus delegate told Energy Intelligence. Another delegate said next week was most likely to see only a Joint Technical Committee meeting on Apr. 26 followed by a JMMC meeting on Apr. 28. Both of those committees meet each month to monitor compliance with the alliance's agreed production cuts and to keep close tabs on any shifts in market conditions that might merit an adjustment in its output policy. Opec-plus, and Saudi Arabia in particular, believe more frequent ministerial meetings provide greater flexibility to make such adjustments quickly, if necessary (OMI Apr.16'21). Despite recent news of rising Covid-19 infections and lockdowns in India, which could hurt oil demand, Brent futures remained comfortably above $65 on Tuesday. Opec-plus delegates said that recent price levels remove any sense of urgency to review the alliance's recently updated plans. On Apr. 1, Opec-plus ministers agreed to increase output by 350,000 barrels per day in May, 350,000 b/d in June and 440,000 b/d in July, for a total cumulative increase of 1.14 million b/d over those three months. In addition, Saudi Arabia agreed to phase out its additional voluntary cut of 1 million b/d by 250,000 b/d in May, 350,000 b/d in June and 400,000 b/d in July. That means a total volume of 2.1 million b/d will return to the market over the three-month period (IOD Apr.1'21). Amena Bakr, Dubai