RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday decided to extend its voluntary crude output cuts of 1 million barrels per day until the end of the first quarter of 2024 in coordination with some OPEC+ members, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported quoting an official source from the Ministry of Energy.
It is the continuation of the Kingdom’s decision made in July, it added.
Following the latest decision, Saudi Arabia’s crude production will remain at approximately 9 million bpd until the end of March 2024. The report added that after the first quarter “in order to support market stability, these additional cuts” will be returned gradually subject to market conditions.
The source also noted that this voluntary cut is in addition to the voluntary cut of 500,000 bpd announced by the Kingdom in April 2023, which extends until the end of December 2024.
The source confirmed that these additional voluntary cuts seek to reinforce the efforts made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, to support the stability and balance of oil markets.
Russia also said on Thursday it would deepen its voluntary oil production cut to 500,000 bpd and extend it until the end of the first quarter of 2024.
The extra cuts are intended to “maintain stability and balance in the oil market,” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement following a meeting of OPEC+ ministers held in Vienna.
Kuwait followed suit by announcing voluntary cuts of 135,000 bpd for three months starting Jan. 1, Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA said on Thursday citing the country’s oil minister.
Kuwait’s oil production will be 2.413 million bpd to the end of March 2024, said Saad Al-Barrak. He said the cut was on top of a 128,000 bpd voluntary cut announced in April, KUNA said.
These announcements came after the OPEC+ members met in an online meeting about global oil production. The OPEC+ ministers set quotas for Angola, Congo and Nigeria after they postponed their meeting originally set for Sunday by four days. There was no immediate word on reductions from other member countries.
Brazil invited
Brazil hopes to join the OPEC+ in January after a technical analysis of the charter for cooperation, the country’s energy minister said on Thursday, reported Reuters.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s office confirmed receiving the invite during his trip to Saudi Arabia, but said he had not formally responded.
The president’s office and the Mines and Energy Ministry did not say whether Brazil would participate as an OPEC+ observer or as a full participant in the group’s shared production quotas.
Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira told his OPEC+ peers that Brazil was eager to formally enter the group at a future meeting in Vienna, after a technical review of its charter for cooperation.
“It’s all set. But there is a phase of detailed analysis by our technical team of the document we just received, which is part of the protocol in Brazil,” Silveira said in Portuguese during a virtual meeting, where his comments were met with a standing ovation from OPEC+ ministers.
In a statement OPEC+ said it welcomed Silveira to the meeting, adding that Brazil “will join the OPEC+ Charter of Cooperation starting January 2024.”
