- OPEC+ Meeting concluded with the decision to cut production by 2 million bpd
- Crude prices fell slightly on the announcement
- Sources suggest that the 2 million bpd would be cut from “current baselines”
The full OPEC+ group has agreed to cut oil production by 2 million bpd, according to sources, after the JMMC recommended a 2 million bpd cut early today.
The OPEC+ group met in Vienna on Wednesday to discuss oil output cuts for November. Leading up to the meeting, different sources cited different figures that the group would be willing to cut. But the key to understanding how this will affect oil prices is not just the overall cut, but the distribution and timing of those cuts, and from what baseline those cuts will be made.
For October—and also in August—the OPEC 10 production target was 26.689 million bpd, with the non-OPEC members of OPEC+ had a collective target of 17.165 million bpd. But the group as a whole has failed to meet those targets. The actual realized production cut will be smaller than the 2 million bpd quota cut, but estimates are that Saudi Arabia’s output alone—which is currently meeting its production targets—would be cut by more than 500,000 bpd if the 2 million bpd cuts are distributed pro rata.
OPEC sources suggested shortly after the meeting concluded that the 2 million bpd would be cut from “current baselines”, with no adjustments made today to the individual country baselines.
The specter of OPEC+ even considering such a large cut as global oil supplies are tight has sent the Biden Administration reeling. White House spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday said that the United States needed to be less dependent on OPEC+ and other foreign producers of oil. The White House was reportedly in a panic leading up to the meeting, trying to prevent OPEC+ from taking such a “hostile act”. In the runup to the meeting, the White House unleashed Amos Hochstein, Janet Yellen, and Brett McGurk to plead its case with the Gulf Nations. Evidence suggests the move had zero effect.
Brent crude prices began to slip on the news but were still 0.29% higher on the day, with WTI trading flat.