The oil cartel has extended its supply cuts until the summer. economy

The oil cartel will extend its production cuts for three more months in a bid to artificially support the price of crude oil. OPEC+, an expanded version of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, agreed this Sunday to extend this cut in pumping until June 30. Till now, this agreed refund covered only till March 31.

The current combined cuts of this group of countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia (the second and third largest crude oil producers on the planet after the United States), are for the fall of 2022 and represent a withdrawal of $2.2 million. Global market of barrels per day. Of that figure, about half (one million) will fall on the shoulders of Riyadh, which has been putting nine million barrels on the market for months, far from its potential capacity. Moscow would add about half a million more, and the rest would be shared by the remaining members, with Iraq and the United Arab Emirates leading the way.

OPEC+ has been cutting its supply for years, a policy that doubled down during the pandemic, when global oil consumption fell. Without these voluntary withdrawals, which have provoked a reaction from many large consumers, the oil market would be even more saturated – supply would remain solid, particularly from non-OPEC countries such as the United States, Canada and Guyana, and a demand that Not yet completed and prices have reduced significantly.

Brent crude oil, the benchmark in Europe, is trading at around $83 a barrel today, having reached $120 in the early stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but is at a comfortable level for producers of most major oil companies. .

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