After a month in which oil prices surged 15% and geopolitical tensions seethed, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies took a record 16 minutes to decide that they would stick to their previously planned output increase.
Apparently, there were no lengthy discussions at Wednesday’s meeting about member nations of the producer group failing to hit their production targets or about one of the busiest months on the geopolitical front in years.
Issues include a potential war between Russia and Ukraine, unrest in Kazakhstan, hints of progress in nuclear talks progress between the US and Iran and repeated Houthi drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
They instead chose to complete their regular monthly meeting in record time, avoiding any thorny discussions.
OPEC+, which groups the bloc’s members and its allies led by Russia, agreed to a small increase for March, raising the collective oil production target by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Brent crude prices hit a seven-year high of $91.70 a barrel on January 28 and were trading at $91.45, after rising $1.16 on Thursday.
Winter Storm Sweeps US
On Friday, oil prices climbed as frigid weather swept across large swathes of the US, threatening to further disrupt oil supplies.
US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 46 cents, or 0.5%, to $90.73 a barrel, having gained $2.01 cents the previous day to settle above $90 for the first time since October 6, 2014.
Several OPEC+ delegates said the latest leg of oil’s rally was a result of concern over the potential for supply disruption due to conflict rather than an issue with undersupply.
“Prices are high not because of market fundamentals but because of geopolitics,” one delegate said.
The source said, however, that geopolitical tensions were not discussed. “Nothing political (was) raised,” he said.
The group has been making the same monthly adjustment to targets since August as it slowly unwinds record cuts made at the height of the pandemic, when fuel demand slumped worldwide.
OPEC+ has fallen well short of meeting the rising target, and is trailing the recovery in fuel demand, because several members failed to make needed investments to maintain oilfields during the pandemic.
As well as the international crisis over Ukraine, tension this month also arose as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched drones and missiles to attack the UAE in an escalation of a conflict with a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
“A geopolitical premium is baked into prices with the Russia-Ukraine standoff continuing and trigger-happy Houthi rebels in Yemen,” PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said.
Capacity Constraints
Asked about the main driver behind the decision, another OPEC+ delegate said, “This decision … suits everyone, both those who have the capacity to increase their supply and those who cannot”.
“With this decision, we maintain the cohesion of the group and we leave the difficult discussions for later,” he added, referring to dwindling capacity among some members.
OPEC+ data shows that in 2021 the group produced on average over 800,000 bpd below its production targets as some – mainly Western African – producers struggled with under-investment.
The group’s lack of spare capacity – idled oilfields ready to come online quickly to deal with unexpected outages in global supply – along with a post-pandemic demand recovery, has put a charge into energy prices and driven global inflation higher.
Just a few producers hold most of that global spare capacity: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
Oil Racing Towards $100
Several analysts, including Goldman Sachs, argue that the very thin spare capacity could push oil prices over the $100 mark later this year. US sanctions are also keeping millions of barrels of production offline in Iran and Venezuela.
The quick decision gives the group more time to wait for the direction of the Iran nuclear talks with the West, which would pave the way for the lifting sanctions on oil exports from the OPEC member.
Indirect talks between the United States and Iran are entering the “final stretch,” with all sides having to make tough political decisions, a senior US State Department official said this week.
Meanwhile, Iranian oil minister Javad Owji was quoted as saying Tehran was ready to return to the oil market quickly, which could boost supply by an additional 1.5 million bpd.
This month, China‘s customs reported the first import of Iranian crude in a year despite ongoing sanctions, offloading nearly 4 million barrels of Iranian crude oil into state reserve tanks.
“The White House has already seemingly dispensed with the maximum pressure sanctions enforcement policy, and more Iranian (and Venezuelan) barrels are making their way to China,” RBC Capital’s Helima Croft said.
Any nuclear deal with Iran will most likely force OPEC+ to rearrange its production quotas to make room for Iranian barrels as in previous years.
Extra Iranian supply, however, could help plug the hole in OPEC+’s output target misses, one of the sources said.
Qatar Can’t Fill Gap Alone
Meanwhile, QatarEnergy chief and minister of state for energy Saad al-Kaabi said Qatar has not approached its Asian customers over diverting gas to Europe, adding that if Russia does not supply the region the gap could not be filled by one country.
The US, the world’s top producer of natural gas, has asked Qatar and other major energy producers to examine whether they can supply Europe should Russian flows be disrupted as a result of tensions with Ukraine.
Earlier this week, a source told Reuters that Qatar would need US help persuading its buyers to divert gas to Europe, where some 30-40% of gas needs are met by Russia.
“No discussions have taken place…this has not happened,” Kaabi said in Doha when asked if Qatar had approached any of its Asian buyers. Qatar sells most of its LNG to Asia on long-term oil-indexed contracts.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
ALSO READ:
Oil Climbs Towards 7-year Highs, All Eyes on OPEC+ Move
OPEC’s Share of Indian Oil Imports At Lowest in 13 Years
OPEC and Allies Agree on Slight Rise in Oil Output
