THE ministerial meeting of the Opec+ alliance originally scheduled for Sunday in Vienna has been rescheduled to November 30, the Vienna-based Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) announced in a statement today.

The 13-member Opec, led by Saudi Arabia, and their 10 partners led by Russia, were due to decide on their output policy amid slumping crude prices.

The Opec+ announcement caused global crude prices to shed about 4%.

Since peaking in September, world oil prices have plummeted, with Brent currently trading below US$80 (RM374.24) per barrel.

Traders worry crude demand will slump, with concerns about the health of the global economy as China’s post-Covid-19 rebound stutters and Europe and the United States battle inflation.

The output strategy by Opec+, which saw nine members led by Riyadh cutting production recently to boost prices, has failed to bring about lasting recovery.

Some analysts have pointed to possible discord between top crude oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Recently, “the Saudi Arabian energy minister blamed speculators for the oil price slide” rather than weak demand, suggesting they would likely continue the “restrictive production policy”, analyst Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank said.

On the other hand, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said today “current oil prices objectively reflect the current situation”.

“They are at a sufficient level and, therefore, the market is balanced. But we will discuss these issues in detail at the next meeting”, he said, quoted by Russian news agencies. – AFP, November 22, 2023.