Oil, from Opec+ production cuts until 2026
The reopening of the taps slips to April and will be even more cautious: the group will not return to full production until the end of 2026, a year later than it had planned. The UAE has also been persuaded to dilute the quota increase over time.
3' min read
3' min read
Opec+ postpones oil production increases: all increases, including the one that had been granted to the United Arab Emirates with a higher quota. Even the most tangled knot on the negotiating table was thus untied, with concessions from Dubai exceeding expectations. The coalition was thus able to show off its unity by announcing an agreement across the board.
The market had only partly discounted the outcome of the summit. Oil prices nevertheless reacted moderately: a rise of around half a percentage point, which kept Brent under 73 dollars per barrel and Wti around 69 dollars.
It will probably take time to 'digest' the new Opec+ plans, which this time too - as seems to be the norm by now - are rather complex. Moreover, not only was the summit held by videoconference (for the third time in a row, with no apparent justification), but there was not even a final press conference: another historical custom that has almost been lost.
No opportunity to ask for clarification then, not even from analysts. And no comments beyond the aseptic formulas of the communiqués. Impossible even to observe the gestures and expressions of the participating ministers, to try to decipher their state of mind.
Beyond the details, the meaning of the latest Opec+ decisions is however clear: the group still does not feel up to endorsing an increase in production. The reopening of the taps therefore slips from January to April (in the original plans it was to start in October and this is already the third postponement).
