'Oil Cartel' OPEC+ Extends Production Cut Measures Again... Oil Futures Up Over 1%

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the OPEC Plus (+), a coalition of major non-OPEC oil-producing countries, have decided to postpone the planned oil production increase scheduled for December by one month. This move comes two days before the U.S. presidential election.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media including the Associated Press on the 3rd (local time), the eight OPEC+ countries stated in a press release that they "have decided to extend the daily production cut of 2 million barrels for one month until the end of December." They added that they "reaffirmed their collective commitment to achieving full compliance with production targets."

The eight OPEC+ countries agreed last November to voluntarily cut oil production by 2.2 million barrels per day and initially planned to start a phased increase last month. However, following the two-month extension of the production increase start date in September by the eight OPEC+ countries, they have now extended the start date by an additional month.

The background to OPEC+'s decision appears to be influenced by factors such as a decline in Chinese oil demand and easing tensions in the Middle East, which have contributed to the recent downward trend in international oil prices.

Following OPEC+'s announcement, international oil futures prices in the Asian market rose by more than 1% on the 4th. As of early trading that day, the global benchmark Brent crude oil January futures price increased by 1.5% to $74.24 per barrel, and the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) December futures price rose 1.6% to $70.63 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the daily production cut of 3.66 million barrels allocated to all OPEC+ member countries is expected to be maintained until the end of next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.