Opec-Plus Approves October Output Increase

Opec-plus ministers meeting on Wednesday swiftly approved a previously agreed increase in their oil production by 400,000 barrels per day in October, as had been widely expected. A statement released by the Opec secretariat said that "while the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to cast some uncertainty, market fundamentals have strengthened and OECD stocks continue to fall as the recovery accelerates." Given the straightforward nature of the decision and the absence of any surprises, the ministers decided not to hold a press conference after their video conference meeting. "The meeting was so smooth, there was no need to change anything, and consensus was reached fast," said one Opec-plus delegate. The next Opec-plus ministerial meeting will be held on Oct. 4 and is expected to approve another increase in output of 400,000 b/d. The near-term market outlook appears to support the alliance's July decision to increase production by a total of 2 million b/d over the last five months of this year. But there are questions about the strength of global oil demand next year, when Opec-plus plans to continue to roll back its production cuts at a monthly pace of 400,000 b/d. Revised Demand Outlook