Status: 04.01.2022 4:45 p.m.
Is Omikron causing another low blow to the global economy? The OPEC + oil cartel is not assuming this and is increasing its production volume as planned.
The international oil cartel OPEC + is increasing its production volume as planned. In February, an additional 400,000 barrels (159 liters) of crude oil per day will be produced, the oil states announced after an online conference in the afternoon.
The alliance, consisting of 23 countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, is continuing its previous strategy of increasing production every month.
Omikron episodes “moderate”
Decisive for the decision was the assessment of how much the new corona wave will slow down the global economy due to the highly contagious Omikron variant. The cartel assumes that the new Corona mutant will only have “moderate” consequences for oil demand. The increased output is intended to cover the additional demand in the ongoing global economic recovery.
However, the cartel resisted demands from the USA to expand subsidies even more in many countries in view of high energy prices and correspondingly high inflation rates.
With the expansion of the production volume, the group is approaching the level before the outbreak of the pandemic. OPEC + supplies around 45 percent of the world market demand for crude oil. The next meeting of the alliance is planned for February 2nd.
The decision was taken calmly on the oil market. Oil prices rose slightly in the afternoon.