OPEC+ Members Extend Oil Output Cuts Through June 2024

OPEC+ member nations have agreed to extend their voluntary cuts to crude oil production through the second quarter, the group announced.

Since November, Brent crude, the global benchmark, has risen by nearly $2 a barrel, up to $83.46.

The move is part of the group’s perpetual balancing act to stabilize oil prices by reducing supply, as reported by Eva Rothenberg for CNN.

OPEC+, a coalition of the world’s top oil-producing countries, announced voluntary oil cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day in November. Sunday’s extension loosened some of the larger production stoppages.

Saudi Arabia, the leading oil exporter, will still cut 1 million barrels per day, but Russia and Iraq will cut 471,000 and 220,000 barrels, respectively, a downward adjustment from the 500,000 and 223,000 barrels each country initially announced.

The following voluntary barrel-per-day production cuts remain the same: The United Arab Emirates by 163,000; Kuwait by 135,000; Kazakhstan by 82,000; Algeria by 51,000, and Oman by 42,000, OPEC+ said.

Since November, Brent crude, the global benchmark, has risen by nearly $2 a barrel, up to $83.46. Production cuts and the subsequent increase in barrel prices, which typically follow, can also raise retail gas prices at the pump.

Analysts have said a surge in crude oil prices is unlikely. It is largely because robust production in the US is keeping oil prices down, which is partially why OPEC+ increased its cuts in the first place.

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