OPEC+ is expected to stick to its existing deal and agree on another small production increase for June at its May 5 meeting, Britain’s Reuters news agency reported last Thursday, even as Russia expects its production to decline further.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russian-led allies, collectively known as OPEC+, have reversed record production cuts in place since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020.
Under a deal reached in July last year, the group is expected to increase its production targets by 432,000 barrels/day each month until the end of September, to undo its remaining production cuts, according to the same source.
Last month, it agreed to go ahead with the production increase planned for May. However, major consumers, led by the United States, have urged the group to increase production at a faster rate, especially as Western sanctions have hit Russian production, Reuters said.
The group is, however, struggling to produce according to its agreed targets, a trend that is expected to continue. It produced 1.45 million barrels/day below its production target in March, as Russian production began to decline, the data showed.
Russia could see its oil production fall by 17% in 2022, according to a document from the Ministry of the Economy seen by Reuters, as Moscow struggles with Western sanctions, the British agency recalled.
