OPEC+ is expected to change its oil policy

Two OPEC+ sources indicated on Friday that the group is likely to maintain its current oil output target when it meets on Sunday, however some claim that a further output reduction is still a possibility given worries about demand and economic development.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, has switched its planned in-person meeting in Vienna on December 4 to a virtual one, which sources in the group say signals the likelihood of it leaving policy unchanged.
“It is unlikely there will be any change to the policy,” an OPEC+ source said. Another source made similar remarks, also declining to be identified by name.
With oil prices and the economic outlook weakening, the group agreed in October to cut its production target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd), about 2 per cent of world demand, from November until the end of 2023.
According to sources cited by Reuters, OPEC+ now wants to evaluate the market’s effects of the impending Russian oil price cap and obtain a clearer picture of demand in China, the world’s largest crude importer.
The chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al Sabah, said on Friday the oil market appeared to be well supplied at current levels and customers were not asking for more oil.
“We are asking our customers what they require for next year and the straight answer from all of them is we are not requiring more oil, we are actually demanding about the same, perhaps even less, just because of a fear of recession … although now we may avoid it,” he said at a conference in Rome.
Some OPEC+ delegates and analysts are not ruling out a surprise at Sunday’s meeting.
In a study released this week, JPMorgan stated that OPEC+ was expected to hold the line at the meeting while still leaving the option for a cut of more than 500,000 bpd in the event that demand continued to weaken.