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Opec

A worker cycles past Aramco oil tanks in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia

Opec set for tricky new year: US booms and demand slows

Opec+ has struggled to maintain high oil prices this year and 2023 is ending with Brent trading 10 percent lower year on year and below the crucial $80 break-even mark of GCC countries. 2024 looks likely to be another challenging year for the oil alliance, analysts have told AGBI. Oil demand rose by more than […]

FILE PHOTO: Angola's Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas Diamantino Pedro Azevedo arrives at the OPEC headquarters for a meeting in Vienna, Austria, June 3, 2023. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

Angola’s Opec exit points to growing divisions on quotas

Angola’s decision to leave the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) over a production quotas dispute will have a limited impact on oil supply but highlights cracks in the organisation’s long-term unity, industry analysts have said. Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angolan mineral resources minister, said the African country’s role in the organisation was not deemed […]

President Vladimir Putin is greeted by the UAE's foreign affairs minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, at Abu Dhabi airport on Wednesday

UAE-Russia trade grows as Putin arrives in Gulf

President Vladimir Putin will be hoping to build on Russia’s $9 billion of trade with the UAE as he visits the Gulf this week. Putin arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and is also expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trade between Russia and the UAE increased […]

Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak says Opec+ must 'restrict volatility'

Russia says Opec+ ‘ready’ to hike oil output cuts in 2024

Opec+ members may increase oil production cuts in the first quarter of 2024 to remove “profiteering and restrict volatility”, according to Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak. The decision by Opec+ to lower oil production by 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of 2024 will help the world to navigate through […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Vladimir Putin to visit UAE and Saudi Arabia this week

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia this week, Russian news outlet Shot reported on Monday, citing Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov. The reported visit comes after the Opec+ group of oil producers, which includes all three countries, agreed last Thursday to voluntary output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels a day […]

The Kaombo Norte floating oil platform in Angola.

Market confusion over Opec+ cuts hits oil prices

Oil prices fell further on Friday after tumbling sharply when Opec+ announced more production cuts amid suspicions that quotas will not be adhered to. Brent, the main international benchmark, traded at $80.66, down from $84.37 on Thursday, while West Texas intermediate was flat at $75.94.  Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of Opec+ announced on […]

Algerian energy minister Mohamed Arkab

Opec+ agrees to cut 2m bpd at delayed meeting

Early reports indicated on Thursday that Opec+ members, led by Saudi Arabia, have agreed at their delayed meeting to cut oil output by nearly 2 million barrels per day, above supply curbs agreed in June. Crude prices rose nearly 1 percent in anticipation of the decision; Brent traded at $82.51. Saudi Arabia, Russia and other […]

Harvesting wheat in Sharkia, Egypt. The Opec Fund is backing food security projects in Egypt and Jordan – both big importers of grain

Opec Fund piles up financing for wheat, wind and water

The Opec Fund for International Development is on track to meet its pledges to increase grants and loans to climate-related projects, its Middle East and North Africa head has told AGBI.  Musab Alomar, the fund’s director of public sector operations for Mena, said climate financing made up 33 percent of all Opec Fund approvals in […]

Weak global growth in 2024 could prompt further Opec+ cuts if the oil market shifts decisively into surplus, said Fitch Ratings

Oil markets stand by ahead of Opec+ meeting

Oil prices rebounded slightly on Wednesday but uncertainty reigned ahead of Thursday’s Opec+ meeting where the question of temporary cuts is likely to dominate. Brent traded at $82.34 at 15.11 GST, while WTI climbed 1 percent to $77.36, supported by a supply disruption caused in the Black Sea, a weakening dollar, and reduced geopolitical risk […]

Opec secretary general Haitham Al Ghais has responded to the IEA

Opec says IEA has ‘vilified’ oil and gas producers

Opec has hit out at the International Energy Agency, saying the IEA has “unjustly vilified” the oil and gas industry by accusing it of being behind the climate crisis. The organisation of leading oil producers responded on Monday to the IEA’s latest report about the industry’s transition to net zero. Its statement highlighted the divergence […]

Saudi minister of energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman at an Opec meeting in June. It is thought Opec+ members cannot agree on further output cuts

Tensions over quotas and cuts delay Opec+ meeting

Opec+ has postponed its ministerial meeting from this weekend to November 30 amid tension over members’ production levels and plans for further output cuts, industry experts said.  Oil prices extended losses by more than 1 percent on Thursday. Brent traded at $80.93 a barrel at 9.38 GST after a steep 4 percent decline on Wednesday. […]

Petro-Canada's oil refinery glows at dusk in Edmonton

Opec+ agonises over quotas but more cuts loom

Opec+ members are likely to extend their voluntary output cuts through to next year at their meeting in Vienna on November 26, even if this means the oil group risks losing market share to keep prices high, analysts and economic experts said. Brent prices held above $82 a barrel on Monday, after four weeks of […]

Oil rig

IEA shifts forecast closer to Opec, but expects 2024 surplus

The International Energy Agency expects the oil market to shift into surplus in 2024 – implying lower prices – on the back of slowing growth in demand. The IEA, which largely represents Western oil consumer nations, said that this slowdown would be down to efficiency gains and a weakening in the post-Covid rebound. A more […]

An oil rig in the Yarakta Oil Field in Russia. Moscow have also agreed to extend cuts through December

Saudi Arabia extends oil cuts to end of year

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it will continue its additional voluntary oil output cuts to the end of the year as part of an Opec+ policy of acting to stabilise and balance the markets.  The production cuts, which began in April, come as prices cool after hitting a 2023 high in September of nearly $98 […]

PIF will acquire a 25% stake in Alkhorayef Petroleum through capital infusion and subscription to new shares

Opec output cuts may extend to end of next year

Opec+ may need to prolong output cuts until the end of 2024 to support crude prices, according to energy experts. A weakening global economy and rising supply from non-Opec countries means oil prices are under pressure. Dong Wang, a Middle East oil markets analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights, told a conference in Dubai on […]

Investors turn to data centres in Gulf and Mena tech push

Investor appetite for data centres in the Middle East is soaring as the region, particularly the Gulf, accelerates its digital transformation. Experts say they are seeing increased levels of investment and interest from international operators, who are looking to capitalise on the region’s growing need for data processing and storage. Earlier this year the Saudi […]