OPEC+ ministerial meeting extended to December 5

The Vienna-based Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, says the ministerial meeting of the OPEC+ alliance initially slated for Sunday has been postponed to December 5.

According to a statement by OPEC on Thursday, several Ministers will be attending the 45th Gulf Summit in Kuwait City.

In recent days, oil prices had won support from the prospect that key OPEC+ nations will delay a pick-up in production, which was due to begin in January.

In a bid to boost crude prices, eight members of the OPEC+ group earlier this month announced they were extending supply cuts until the end of December.

“The countries have agreed to extend the November 2023 voluntary production adjustments of 2.2 million barrels per day for one month until the end of December 2024”, the statement said.

The eight nations extending the cuts are Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

They have been delaying production increases amid concerns over slowing demand, which has weighed on oil prices in recent months.