OPEC+ countries have agreed on a larger-than-expected increase in oil supplies in May. In this way, they are intensifying the fall in oil prices caused by the duties of US President Donald Trump, UNN writes with reference to Bloomberg.
Details
OPEC reported that next month OPEC+ will add 411,000 barrels per day to the market, which is equivalent to three monthly tranches from the previous production recovery plan. According to delegates, the decision was made after a telephone conversation between ministers of the participating countries.
"If OPEC+ wants to curb oil prices, now that President Trump has initiated reciprocal tariff measures with the rest of the world, the time couldn't be better," said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of oil research and analysis at Onyx Commodities Ltd.
Oil prices remained almost unchanged amid expectations of a US tariff announcement02.04.25, 15:46
Oil futures fell 5.5% to $70.80 a barrel as of 12:35 in London.
While global oil markets still remain unstable amid rising trade tensions, and many OPEC+ members need higher oil prices to balance their state budgets, the group also faced external pressure from Trump to "lower the price of oil."
After several delays, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners finally began to resume production this month, which had been suspended for the past few years. This month, they will increase production by 138,000 barrels per day.
The acceleration of production growth in May is aimed at putting pressure on group members who exceeded their quotas, as well as giving them the opportunity to make larger compensatory cuts to atone for past "fraud", delegates said, asking not to be named, as the negotiations were closed.
According to the statement, they will meet again on May 5 to make a decision on the level of production for June.
Supplement
Bloomberg wrote that oil is falling in price, amid the market weighing the ambiguous statements of US President Donald Trump regarding the threat of new sanctions on Russian oil. This may happen if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin refuses to cease fire in the war against Ukraine.