Saudi Energy Minister: OPEC+ will not change production levels in 2023

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said the OPEC+ oil production deal reached in October last year will run through 2023.

“The agreement we signed in October is valid until the end of the year, period. We need to make sure that the appearance of positive signals in the market can be sustainable,” the minister said in an interview with representatives of the consulting company Energy Aspects Ltd (quoted from Bloomberg).

On October 5, 2022, the OPEC+ countries, which include, in particular, Russia and Saudi Arabia, agreed to reduce the target level of oil production by 2 million barrels per day from November 2022 to the end of 2023 as part of the Declaration of Cooperation. US President Joe Biden called the production cut short-sighted and in Russia’s interests.

On December 5, 2022, an embargo on Russian oil came into force, and a price ceiling for oil from Russia was set at $60 per barrel. These restrictions were introduced, in particular, by the EU countries, the G7 and Australia. On February 5, the embargo imposed by the allies on Russian oil products began to operate. The Western coalition has set two price ceilings for them, depending on the type of product.

On February 10, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced a reduction in oil production by 500 thousand barrels per day since March. He also said that Russia would not sell oil to those who directly or indirectly adhere to the price ceiling. In the Kremlin declaredthat before making this decision, the Russian side “had conversations” with a number of OPEC + participants. Based on the results of the December and February meetings, the organization did not become change production quotas.

Erdni Kagaltynov