The January meeting between representatives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other countries (OPEC+ Group) ended with an agreement. While Saudi Arabia will voluntarily reduce production below a set quota, Russia and Kazakhstan have negotiated a slight increase in their oil production.
The OPEC+ meeting was originally supposed to be one-day. But there was a relatively fundamental split between countries that advocated not increasing oil production and Russia, which, on the contrary, demanded an increase in quotas. Opec+ had already increased its production quota by 500,000 barrels per day as far back as January, and most countries expressed the view that there was no reason to increase again.
In the end, a total of 23 countries reached a compromise. Under it, Russia will be able to increase its production quota by 65,000 barrels per day and Kazakhstan by 10,000. Saudi Arabia has decided to offset the increase, which in turn will voluntarily limit production below its specified quota.
Most countries in the group are interested in keeping the price of oil at least at their current level, because the coronavirus pandemic is not yet on the rise. This is pushing global demand for oil, and therefore its price, down. If its supply increased, the downward pressure on the price would increase. The next OPEC+ meeting is expected to take place in as early as two months, early March, where quotas are expected to be negotiated for April.
