OPEC+ votes to maintain plan to raise oil output quota by 432,000 bpd in June, considers market balanced

MOSCOW. May 5 (Interfax) - The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee has voted to keep to its plan to raise the June oil production quota by 432,000 barrels per day, OPEC said in a statement.

It was noted after an OPEC and Non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting that "continuing oil market fundamentals and the consensus on the outlook pointed to a balanced market," and the "continuing effects of geopolitical factors and issues related to the ongoing pandemic" were also noted.

OPEC+ reaffirmed the critical importance of full conformity and keeping to the compensation mechanism, as well as taking advantage of the compensation period being extended to the end of June 2022.

The office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said after the meeting that the decision to maintain the plan to increase oil output was unanimous. The meeting also touched on the development of the situation on the oil market in the first half of 2022 and the level of fulfillment of obligations to restore crude output.

"The decision undertaken reflects the intention of key oil producers to preserve the balance between production and crude consumption while fully satisfying current demand and not allowing the market to be significantly oversupplied," Novak was quoted as saying by the press service for the government's office.

The next OPEC+ ministerial meeting is scheduled for June 2.

Despite a smooth increase in quotas since August 2021, OPEC+ countries cannot reach the level of oil production permitted by the quotas. OPEC+ countries fell 1.45 million bpd short of the set production quotas in March.