OPEC+ will delay Sunday’s online meeting on oil production curbs to Dec. 5, according to delegates who asked not to be identified.
The group is set to discuss whether to proceed with reviving supplies, beginning with an increase of 180,000 barrels a day in January. Delegates said earlier this week that talks have begun on delaying the move, potentially for several months.
Formally, the postponement of the meeting is because ministers have conflicting travel trips, the delegates said. Some ministers will attend the meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Kuwait on Dec. 1, one added.
Still, in the past the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners have shifted meeting dates when they need more time to hammer out a deal. Coalition leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia have made trips this week to fellow members Iraq and Kazakhstan.
The alliance confronts an uncomfortable dilemma: to prolong the curbs well into 2025, or risk tipping global markets into a glut. Even extending the restraints all year won’t prevent a considerable supply overhang, according to the International Energy Agency.
“OPEC+ are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of oil research at Onyx Commodities Ltd.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in Baghdad. They discussed the importance of keeping markets balanced and fulfilling commitments to cut production. On Wednesday, the Saudi and Russian ministers spoke with their Kazakh counterpart, Almassadam Satkaliyev.
