Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Opec-plus ministers will meet on Apr. 28 as planned rather than push the next summit into May, as the latest surge in new Covid-19 cases in India stokes oil demand concerns. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has indicated he expects next week's meeting was likely to be a routine event with only minor changes to future increases on the table. Nevertheless, India's surge in Covid-19 cases to a record 260,000 per day has sent shivers through oil futures markets. The meeting has been on the schedule for a month but some delegates had felt it unnecessary to hold a full ministerial meeting because they saw no need to adjust production policy given strong oil prices and declining stocks (IOD Apr.20'21). On Apr. 1, Opec-plus agreed to increase output by 350,000 b/d in May, 350,000 b/d in June and 440,000 b/d in July. 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. A total volume of 2.1 million b/d is currently set to return to the market over the three-month period.
