By Adedapo Adesanya
The price of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of 13 crudes dropped 0.18 per cent to $43.38 per barrel on Monday, compared with $43.46 it was traded in the previous session.
This price loss is seen as investors’ reaction against plans by OPEC leader, Saudi Arabia’s decision to start reducing cuts from next month by 7.7 million barrels daily, replacing the previous 9.7 million a day cut.
The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).
In other OPEC related news, the Secretary-General of the oil cartel, Mr Mohammed Barkindo says the oil market is moving closer to balance before a key meeting on Wednesday as the OPEC panel called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meets on Wednesday to recommend the next level of cuts.
“The gradual reopening of the economies and societies around the world has provided a much-needed resurgence in demand,” while the supply cuts “have helped reverse a rapidly rising trend in inventories.
“These supply and demand trends are helping bring us step by step closer to achieving a balanced market,” Mr Barkindo said.
The OPEC+ agreement, as well as natural declines in other oil-producing countries because of falling demand and crude prices, is credited with rebalancing the global market.
The OPEC Secretary-General Barkindo said, “If we had not acted in such a decisive way, the market would have been in danger of a near-total collapse.”
