LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC+ is set to ramp up oil production from October as a halt to output in Libya and cuts pledged by some members to offset oversupply counter the impact of sluggish demand, six sources within the organisation told Reuters.
Eight members of OPEC+, which groups oil exporters and their allies led by Russia, are set to raise output by 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) in October as part of a plan to begin ending their latest round of output cuts of 2.2 million bpd, while keeping other cuts in place through the end of 2025.
A slowdown in demand growth, particularly in China, weighed on oil prices and had led some analysts to doubt that OPEC+ would consider increasing production in October.
Six OPEC+ sources told Reuters, however, that the plan was still in place as Libya’s production shutdown tightens the market. The U.S. Federal Reserve could also cut interest rates in mid-September.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about demand, but there is also hope that the Fed’s interest rate cut will boost economic growth,” one of the sources said.
OPEC+ has not scheduled any formal discussions before the meeting of the main ministers of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), scheduled for October 2.
OPEC, the Saudi government’s communications office and the office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Olesya Astakhova, Ahmad Ghaddar and Maha El Dahan, with the contribution of Yousef Saba, Diana Mandiá)
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