OPEC Members To Meet First Time Since March 2020 In Vienna This Week
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Sulaiman
- . October 1, 2022
- . Update: November 11, 2022 12:32 am
Since March 2020, the OPEC nations would be holding their first in-person ministerial meeting in Vienna. The intent is to discuss a cut in oil production to mitigate the volatility in the fluctuating oil prices across the board.
Several factors are involved in this process. For one is the unstable US dollar and also a worsening global outlook. According to a formal statement made by OPEC’s secretariat, the 23-nation group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia is scheduled to meet on Wednesday this week. A formal press release also said, “The OPEC secretariat looks forward to welcoming all ministerial delegations again to Vienna. These upcoming meetings will be the first in-person ministerial meetings since March 2020.”
The group has continued to meet every month online on a monthly basis and was not expected to arrange an in-person gathering until the end of the year. But as things would have it, plans remain changed.
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Brent crude soared above $125 a barrel following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Since then, it has dropped to $85 as central banks raise interest rates to fight inflation and economies from the US to China slow.
Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, was trading at $85.14 a barrel at 3:45pm UAE time. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, was trading at $79.49 a barrel.
According to advice given by UBS analysts Giovanni Staunovo and Wayne Gordon through a research note last week, shared with a leading Middle Eastern publication, “To address prevailing oil demand concerns, stop the negative price momentum and set a floor to prices, we think the group has to announce a production cut of at least 0.5 million bpd over the coming days.”
