Markets in anticipation of a two-day OPEC meeting

Today, a ministerial meeting of the OPEC countries will take place, which will be devoted to organizational issues of OPEC's activities in 2022. It follows from the agenda of the meeting that the levels of oil production in December will not be discussed. 

So why is this meeting important and what news will it bring to the market? 

The first item on the agenda is the election of a new president of the OPEC conference for 2022. This year, his functions were performed by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Oil of Angola, Diamantino Pedro Azevedo. According to the OPEC charter, the president of the organization is replaced every year, and this position is transferred alternately in alphabetical order to all heads of delegations of the participating countries. Thus, the next president of OPEC may be the Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Congo, Bruno Jean-Richard Itois.

In addition, the meeting will discuss a new long-term strategy, the budget of the secretariat for 2022 and other organizational issues.

Immediately after the OPEC meeting, a meeting of the OPEC+ technical committee will be held, at which scenarios for the development of the oil market and the impact of the new omicron strain on demand will be discussed. The meeting will last two days.

One of the most pressing issues of OPEC+ today remains the level of oil production in January 2022. Earlier it was decided that from August the OPEC+ countries will restore production by 400 thousand barrels per day, including December. The United States, India and China have repeatedly demanded that OPEC+ countries increase production at a faster pace to lower oil prices, but these demands remain unanswered.