Saudi Arabia to increase oil production in coming months

Saudi Arabia plans to increase oil production in the coming months, Report says, citing Dow Jones.

In early January, Saudi Arabia voluntarily pledged to reduce oil production by 1 million barrels per day (BPD) in February-March to support prices. However, now that oil is trading at the highest levels in more than a year, Riyadh will abandon the cuts and intends to announce it during the meeting of OPEC countries, which will be held next month, sources told Dow Jones.

According to them, the increase in production will not happen until April, given that Saudi Arabia has already committed to reducing it by the end of March.

Dow Jones sources also note that the kingdom's plans may change if market conditions change. Therefore, the representatives of Saudi Arabia have not yet communicated their intentions to the OPEC states.

"At that time, we were able to meet face to face as we were in the early phases of this crisis, which the World Health Organization (WHO) later declared a pandemic.

"Who would have thought at the time that after a year, we would meet remotely instead of meeting at the headquarters of the IEF in Riyadh," he said while pointing out that this shows how it was impossible to anticipate the events.

"You will remember that in my speech during the meeting last year, I warned about the potential impact of this pandemic on the oil market and stressed the need for vigilance and action.

OPEC+ ministers will hold a regular meeting on March 4 to decide on production levels from April 2021.

As of 14.15 (Baku time), the price of April futures for Brent North Sea oil blend rose by 0.25%, to $64.5 per barrel, and March futures for WTI-by 0.26%, to $61.3 per barrel.