LONDON: Top Opec+ ministers stressed the need for full compliance with oil output targets and plans to compensate for pumping too much, after the group’s surprise decision this week to raise output further helped send prices crashing to pandemic-level lows.

Several ministers from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or Opec+ as the group is known, held an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting on Saturday.

Record output in Kazakhstan has angered several other members of the group, including top producer Saudi Arabia, sources have told Reuters. Opec+ is urging the Central Asian country, among other members, to make further cuts to compensate for excess production.

“The committee noted the countries that did not achieve full conformity and compensation and reiterated the critical importance of achieving full conformity and compensation,” Opec said in a statement.

Record production in Kazakhstan irks group

The meeting, which groups the oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other leading producers, usually is held every two months and can make recommendations to change policy.

Kazakhstan’s energy minister told the meeting that he would work with companies that produce the country’s oil to make the additional cuts pledged to Opec+, a person who attended the meeting said.

Countries are to submit new plans for their compensation cuts by April 15, Opec said.

On Thursday, eight Opec+ countries unexpectedly agreed to speed up their plan to phase out oil output cuts by increasing production by 411,000 barrels per day in May instead of 135,000bpd, a decision that prompted oil prices to extend sharp losses. Brent crude prices closed seven per cent lower at $65.58 a barrel on Friday, their lowest since August 2021, pressured by the Opec+ decision and trade war fears after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping new tariffs this week.

The May hike is the next increment of a plan agreed by Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman to gradually unwind their most recent output cut of 2.2 million bpd, which came into effect this month.

Opec+ also has 3.65m bpd of other output cuts in place until the end of next year to support the market. The next joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting is scheduled for May 28, when the full Opec+ group also plans to gather next to set policy.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2025