The cartel wants to assess the impact of two measures aimed at destroying Russian oil revenues: increased tariffs and an EU boycott.
OPEC and its fellow oil producers have agreed to stick to their output targets as oil markets struggle to see how China’s economy is shrinking from demand and the G7’s price on Russian oil supplies.
The decision at the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday was made a day before the introduction of two measures aimed at hitting Russian oil prices in response to their attack on Ukraine: the boycott of the European Union on the sale of most of the Russian oil and the price of $ 60 per barrel on Russian products provided by the EU, The group of seven nations is Australia.
It is not yet known how much Russian oil these two measures will take off the world market, which could tighten supplies and raise prices.
The world’s second-largest oil producer could re-export most of its European exports to customers in India, China and Turkey.
Moscow said it would not sell its oil below the target price and was analyzing how to respond.
OPEC+, which includes Russia, angered the United States and other Western countries in October when it agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day, about 2 percent of global demand, from November until the end of 2023.
Washington has criticized the group and the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia, for cooperating with Russia despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
OPEC+ said it had cut output due to the economic slowdown. Oil prices have fallen since October due to slower economic growth in China and around the world and higher interest rates, prompting market speculation that the bloc may cut output again.
But on Sunday, OPEC+ decided to keep the policy. His senior ministers will meet again on February 1 while a full meeting is scheduled for June 3-4.
There was no discussion about the price of Russian oil at the OPEC+ meeting, sources told Reuters.
JP Morgan said on Friday that OPEC+ could review production in the new year based on China’s demand and consumer compliance on Russian oil prices and tanker output.
