OPEC+ moves to stabilise oil market amid West Asia crisis

Eight OPEC+ nations agreed to a production adjustment of 206,000 barrels per day in May to stabilise oil markets amid West Asia tensions. The producers also warned that attacks on energy infrastructure and disruptions to maritime routes threaten global energy security

New Delhi: In their collective commitment to support oil market stability amid the West Asia crisis, the eight OPEC+ countries — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — on Sunday decided to implement a production adjustment of 206 thousand barrels per day in May — from the 1.65 million barrels per day additional voluntary adjustments announced in April 2023.

The countries met virtually on Sunday to review global market conditions and outlook.

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“This adjustment will be implemented in May 2026. The 1.65 million barrels per day may be returned in part or in full subject to evolving market conditions and in a gradual manner,” OPEC said in a statement.

The countries will continue to closely monitor and assess market conditions, and in their continuous efforts to support market stability, they reaffirmed the importance of adopting a cautious approach and retaining full flexibility to increase, pause or reverse the phase out of the voluntary production adjustments, including reversing the previously implemented voluntary adjustments of the 2.2 million barrels per day announced in November 2023.

The eight OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation.

The eight countries reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including the additional voluntary production adjustments that will be monitored by the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC). They also confirmed their intention to fully compensate for any overproduced volume since January 2024.

The countries also expressed concern regarding attacks on energy infrastructure, noting that restoring damaged energy assets to full capacity is both costly and takes a long time, thereby affecting overall supply availability.

They stressed that any actions undermining energy supply security, whether through attacks on infrastructure or disruption of international maritime routes, increase market volatility and weaken the collective efforts under the DoC to support market stability for the benefit of producers, consumers, and the global economy.

In this regard, the eight countries commended the DoC countries that took the initiative to ensure the continued availability of supplies, particularly through the use of alternative export routes, which have contributed to reducing market volatility.