Saudi Arabia leads the OPEC+ push to ease output cut by 2 million barrels a day

Weekend headlines suggest that the global oil producers are considering stepping back from their output cut accords, currently around 9.7 million barrels a day.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies, known as OPEC+, get the latest push from Saudi Arabia to reduce the output by around 2 million barrels a day.

Key quotes

In April, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, led a push that saw the 23-producer group cut its collective output by 9.7 million barrels a day, as the pandemic led to a collapse of oil demand.

Now Saudi Arabia and most participants in the coalition support a loosening of the curbs, the delegates said. Under a Saudi proposal, the so-called OPEC Plus coalition would relax its current curbs by 2 million barrels a day to 7.7 million barrels a day, the delegates said.

Market reaction

With the OPEC meeting on the cards during this week, the news exerts downside pressure on the oil benchmark. Though, WTI is yet to respond amid early Asian markets and seesaws around $40.50 as we write.