DJ on OPEC – closer to continuing existing production targets through end 2019

The Wall Street Journal with a wrap up of the weekend meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC)

  • OPEC and allies moved closer to continuing existing production targets through the end of the year
  • the group has also been looking at a handful of scenarios, some of which would involve easing production curbs
“Today, we are looking at various options [for the second half of 2019] including softening the production levels,” Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak told reporters. “If there is a growth in demand, we are ready to consider and mitigate those parameters, a partial recovery of production,” he said.
Background to the weekend meeting:
  • OPEC and allies agreed last December to cut output by a collective 1.2 million barrels a day
  • The agreement expires in June
  • There is a full OPEC+ meeting next month to finalise production options