OPEC + sees a narrower oil market until May 2022

DUBAI / LONDON, 31 August (Reuters) – OPEC + expects the oil market to run a deficit at least until the end of 2021 and stocks to remain relatively low until May 2022, sources said on Tuesday. of OPEC +, a day before a political meeting US pressure to increase production.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, collectively known as OPEC +, meet on Wednesday at 1,500 GMT to establish the policy.

Sources told Reuters that the meeting is likely to appease existing policies despite pressure from the United States to pump more oil. Read more

However, the forecast for a tighter market reinforces the case for a faster increase in OPEC + production, as Brent oil prices are trading near $ 73 a barrel, not far away. of the maximums of several years.

Sources’ comments came when experts from the OPEC + Joint Technical Committee (JTC) presented an updated report on the state of the oil markets between 2021-2022.

According to sources, the report, which has not been made public, predicts a deficit of 0.9 million barrels per day (bpd) this year as global demand recovers from the coronavirus pandemic while OPEC + gradually recovers production.

Initially, the report had seen a surplus of 2.5 million bpd built in 2022, but later revised to a surplus of less than 1.6 million bpd, according to sources.

As a result, trade inventories of oil in OECD countries will remain below the 2015-2019 average until May 2022, as attached to the initial forecast for January 2022, as shown the presentation of the JTC, according to sources.

The JTC expected global oil demand to grow 5.95 million bpd this year and 3.28 million bpd next year. It was unclear whether these figures were revised in the last report.

Reports by Rania El Gamal, Alex Lawler and Ahmad Ghaddar; writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Edited by David Goodman and David Gregorio

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