schreef:
OPEC+ Near a Deal as Talks Focus on Gradual Tapering of Cuts
OPEC+ is closing in on a deal to start gradually easing its output cuts in February, after days of fractious negotiations that revealed deep cracks at the core of the cartel.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have thrashed out a plan that would maintain the current supply curbs in January, then add about 500,000 barrels a day to the market each month from February to May, said a delegate. The group was focused on this proposal and inching closer to a deal, although the start of the Thursday’s meeting was pushed back by one hour to 3 p.m. Vienna time, said delegates.
A gradual easing of the supply cuts falls short of what had been widely expected before this week: a full three-month delay to the 1.9 million-barrel-a-day output increase scheduled for January. Yet the proposal also avoids a full breakdown of OPEC+ unity, which had become a growing risk after days of tense talks exposed a rift between core cartel members, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Oil was down about 0.2% at 1:13 p.m in London, trading near $48.
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The proposals, if accepted by all of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, would tweak the historic cuts agreement that has underpinned the recovery in oil prices this year. A deal would bring a close to a tense round of talks has tested the unity, and credibility, of OPEC+. Negotiations have been unusually fraught because of the clash between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Thursday’s meeting was pushed back by two days because of the clash between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“Ministers are inching closer to a compromise that should break the impasse,” Energy Aspects Ltd. co-founder Amrita Sen said in a note. “OPEC+ officials are debating a more limited adjustment to the current deal than the proposed three-month delay.”
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