– The OPEC daily basket price reached $73.68 a barrel on Thursday, reflecting a slight increase from the previous day’s price of $73.67, based on calculations from the OPEC Secretariat.The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) includes a variety of crude grades: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basrah Medium (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE), and Merey (Venezuela).
VIENNA, Austria, – The OPEC+ nations, which announced additional voluntary production cuts in April and November 2023, convened a virtual meeting on September 5, 2024. During this meeting, key member countries including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman reaffirmed their collective commitment to adhering to the voluntary production adjustments.
Despite overproduction since January 2024, both Iraq and Kazakhstan restated their dedication to the agreement and the compensation plans submitted to the OPEC Secretariat, as per the discussions from the 53rd JMMC meeting held on April 3, 2024.
In August 2024, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria, and Oman held two ministerial discussions with Iraq and Kazakhstan, urging them to achieve full compliance and address their overproduced volumes. In response, Iraq and Kazakhstan agreed to work closely with secondary sources to develop their production adjustment plans, aiming to align with the compensation schedules submitted to the OPEC Secretariat on August 22.
Furthermore, Iraq and Kazakhstan reaffirmed their commitments during recent visits from the OPEC Secretary General in late August, coordinated with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister and the chairman of the OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meetings.
During those visits, OPEC Secretariat workshops with secondary sources allowed both countries to detail their immediate actions for achieving full compliance with production levels and meeting compensation schedules for August and September. These actions included expediting field maintenance and reducing production, alongside postponing or canceling spot sales for August. Additionally, both countries pledged to revise their compensation plans for the overproduced volumes in August.
As a result of this renewed commitment, the eight participating countries have decided to extend their additional voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day for an additional two months, until the end of November 2024. The cuts will then be gradually phased out on a monthly basis starting December 1, 2024, with the flexibility to pause or reverse adjustments as needed.
Countries with overproduction have also reiterated their pledge that all overproduced volumes will be fully compensated by September 2025.
