Major oil-producing countries have decided to limit production in May to a modest increase in line with the original plan.
With Russia's military invasion of Ukraine raising oil prices to record highs, consuming countries are increasingly calling for more supply, but this time too, they have forgotten an additional increase in production.
OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and major oil-producing countries such as Russia met online on March 31 to discuss crude oil production in May.
As a result, we confirmed that we would not change the previous plan, and in line with this, we decided to limit the production in May to a small increase of 432,000 barrels per day.
International crude oil prices are at record highs as exports from Russia, which has been sanctioned by the military invasion of Ukraine, are expected to decline, and consuming countries are calling for more supply. Is getting stronger.
However, oil-producing countries emphasized the position that there is no need to significantly increase supply, saying in a statement that "the large fluctuations in crude oil prices are due to geopolitical factors, not the imbalance between supply and demand of crude oil." did.
Prior to the meeting, the ministers in charge of Saudi Arabia and the UAE = United Arab Emirates said that political discussions should not be brought in, and the main oil-producing countries called "OPEC Plus" at this meeting. It has become a form that emphasizes the framework of the United Arab Emirates and shows an attitude of continuing cooperation with Russia.
IEA Concerns about Russia's Significant Decrease in Production
At a meeting of major oil-producing countries held on the 31st, Russia's crude oil production in May was shown to be more than 10 million barrels a day, which is the largest production along with Saudi Arabia.
However, the IEA = International Energy Agency said in its latest report that Russia's production could decline by 3 million barrels a day after April due to the effects of economic sanctions in each country. May shake. "
It has been pointed out that Saudi Arabia and the UAE = United Arab Emirates have sufficient production capacity and that additional production can be increased, but both countries are negative about increasing production individually.
Furthermore, OPEC = Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has revealed that investment is declining, saying that "currently, capital investment in the oil industry is far below the pre-pandemic level", and oil production is not increasing as expected. There is also a country.
According to the IEA, "there are few signs of an increase in crude oil supply in Middle Eastern oil-producing countries," there is growing concern that oil-producing countries will not provide sufficient supply if Russia's production falls sharply.