OPEC Secretary General, Dr Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, exchanging pleasantries with some members of the Board.
By Ayo Kehinde
OPEC Board of Governors commenced a two- day meeting in Vienna on Tuesday, the first physical meeting of officials of the global oil cartel since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019.
Coming at a time when the Russo-Ukraine war is threatening regular, balanced supply, the meeting is expected to consolidate on its earlier commitment alongside OPEC+ to ensure that oil supply and demand fundamentals were in balance during the Ukraine crisis to support the global economy.
In addition, OPEC+, which consists of OPEC and other producers including Russia, said it would raise output by about 432,000 barrels per day in May, as part of a gradual unwinding of output cuts made during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
OPEC which had highlighted the negative short-term impact of the Ukraine crisis and ongoing pandemic, stated then that: “The strong rise in commodity prices, in combination with ongoing supply chain bottlenecks and COVID-19-related logistical constraints are fuelling already high global inflation”.
In April, Reuters reported that OPEC told the International Monetary Fund’s steering committee that the surge in oil prices was largely due to the Ukraine crisis, in the latest signal that the producer group would not take further action to add supply.
That was when the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) was notified by OPEC that the price of global benchmark Brent crude had averaged near $98 a barrel in the first quarter, up about $18 from the last three months of 2021. As at today, Brent crude oil spot price is at $106.63 per barrel, up by 0.73 per cent from the previous trading day. In comparison to one week ago ($111.27 per barrel), Brent oil is down 4.17 per cent.
The IMFC is part of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank’s Board of Governors.
OPEC, which took part in a meeting of the IMFC last year, has been resisting calls by the United States and European Union to pump more oil to cool prices, which reached a 14-year peak above $139 last month after Washington and Brussels imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
