Eight OPEC+ countries announced this Sunday, April 5, an increase in production by 206 thousand barrels per day, adding that the full repair of damaged energy infrastructures will “take a long time”, without mentioning Iran.
The announcement was made in a statement, at the end of a virtual meeting between Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, with the changes expected to apply in May.
The biggest increases will be recorded in Russian and Saudi production, which will both increase by 62 thousand barrels per day, followed by Iraq (26 thousand) and the United Arab Emirates (18 thousand).
In the document, which does not mention Iran and which was published on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) portal, the eight countries also expressed concern about attacks on energy infrastructure.
“Fully recovering the capacity of damaged energy assets will be costly and take a long time, thus affecting global supply availability,” they said.
The eight countries praised the States that have guaranteed continuity of supply, “notably through the use of alternative export routes, which contributed to reducing market volatility”.
The producing countries that participated in the meeting also highlighted “the crucial importance of safeguarding international maritime routes to guarantee an uninterrupted flow of energy”.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman are left with a new combined daily production of 33.7 million barrels of oil.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a military offensive against Iran, which retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz – a key maritime route for the oil market – and launched attacks against Israel, US bases and other infrastructure in countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman and Iraq.
The current situation has caused an increase in the prices of oil and other raw materials.
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