Russian president Vladimir Putin says that Opec+ could maintain or even deepen its existing crude production cuts next year, the first time Russia has acknowledged such a possibility. But he said he sees no reason at the moment for the group to deviate from its plan to raise output quotas come January.
"We believe that there is no need to change anything, but we do not rule out keeping the existing output restrictions, without easing them as quickly as we were planning," Putin said at an online forum organised by Russian think-tank the Valdai Club.
"If needed, we can possibly take other decisions about a further decrease [in production]. But we do not see the necessity at the moment. We have agreed with our partners that we will be monitoring the situation closely," he said.
The Opec+ alliance is due to ease its collective production cut by almost 2mn b/d to 5.8mn b/d on 1 January. But renewed pressure on oil demand and a recovery in Libyan output have raised doubts about the oil market's ability to absorb the extra supply.
This article is reproduced at www.argusmedia.com
