VIENNA: There are growing signs that major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia are considering slashing production further when they meet on Sunday in a bid to prop up prices.
The 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is due to consult with 10 other oil-producing nations, including Russia, to review the grouping’s future output policy.
The in-person OPEC+ meetings are set to take place from 0800 GMT Sunday in Vienna.
Analysts had expected OPEC+ producers to maintain their current policy, but signs emerged Saturday that staying the course might fall short of sufficiently stabilising the oil market.
In April, several OPEC+ members agreed to voluntarily cut production by more than one million barrels per day (bpd) – a surprise move which briefly buttressed prices, but failed to bring about lasting recovery.
Oil producers are grappling with falling prices and high market volatility amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has upended economies worldwide.
Most delegations remained tight-lipped or declined to comment on possible policy decisions as they arrived in the Austrian capital for their Saturday meetings.
Analysts were divided over whether heavyweights Riyadh and Moscow would keep the group on course with its current output policy, or further curtail production.
An output cut of 700,000 bpd to one million bpd was one of the options being discussed, a source close to the discussions told AFP, stressing that nothing was set in stone.
“There was no discussion of production volume today,” Iran’s OPEC governor Amir Hossein Zamaninia told AFP on Saturday, adding that all options still remained “on the table” for Sunday’s gathering.
