Before Easter, OPEC+ surprised both the market and traders by announcing huge cuts in oil production. Overall, the oil cartel reduces production by 1.2 million barrels per year. day from and including May until the end of 2023.
Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest cut with 500,000 barrels per day. This amounts to less than 5 percent of the country’s daily production in 2022.
However, the state oil company Saudi Aramco will continue with oil exports to countries in North Asia in the same volume as before the cuts, writes Reutersciting unnamed sources.
The oil giant’s monthly allocation is now being watched closely by investors, who wonder whether the production cut could affect supplies in Asia – the world’s largest importer of crude oil.
People are now wondering whether the voluntary cut will actually affect supply, or whether it was just carried out to jack up the oil price, says a source at an Asian oil refinery.
The price of Brent oil jumped more than 5 percent on the news of the cut, breaking above $80 a barrel for the first time in weeks.
There are different opinions about how oil demand in Asia will develop in the future. Several large refineries are now scaling back capacity, while investors expect greater demand, particularly from China, writes Reuters.
A barrel of Brent oil is traded for just over 85 dollars a barrel on Monday, while WTI oil costs 80.80 dollars per barrel. barrel.
