OPEC+ postpones meeting over oil output impasse, new date not set

Twenty three members of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) called of the meeting planned on Monday to overcome the impasse on crude oil output levels, said AFP citing sources.

No new date has been given to reconvene.

Since May, the group has raised oil output little by little, after slashing it more than a year ago when the coronavirus pandemic crushed demand.

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The proposal to increase output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) is at stake.

That would add a further two million bpd to markets by the end of the year, helping to fuel a hoped-for recovery in the global economy as the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control.

But that plan risks being delayed or even failing over a further proposal to extend the cap on incremental increases through to the end of 2022.

"The market is now fearing several scenarios," said Bjarne Schieldrop, a Norway-based analyst with SEB.

In one, there is no deal and no increase in production, sending oil prices shooting up, he said. Another sees a "free-for-all (in) production and a collapse in the oil price".

UAE on Sunday criticised terms of extension as unjust.

A video conference between OPEC members and their 10 allies was due to begin at 1300 GMT, but the meeting was called off a few hours later with no new date set.

Oil prices, which had already been sliding over concerns about the global economy, slumped in April 2020 when the coronavirus spread around the world and battered global consumption, transport and supply chains.

OPEC+ decided to withdraw 9.7 million bpd from the market and to gradually restore supplies by the end of April 2022.

Benchmark oil prices rebounded as a result. North Sea Brent and West Texas Intermediate, the most widely traded crude oil futures contracts, have lately been steady at around $75 a barrel, up by about half since the beginning of this year.

(With inputs from agencies)