Kuwait and Iraq are supporting OPEC+’s current crude supply plan despite the demand for more from the market amid rising prices.
On Monday, Kuwait's oil minister Mohammad Abdulatif Al-Fares said that the plan to raise output would ensure adequate crude supply to balance the global market.
On Saturday, Iraq's state oil marketing company, SOMO, said that the current plan of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) to raise output was already sufficient to meet demand and stabilize the market.
OPEC+ is facing some pressures from the global energy market to increase its output when on Monday, Brent crude prices traded close to USD85/barrel even when China had announced a release of fuel reserves to increase market supply and support price stability in some areas.
De-facto OPEC leader, Saudi Arabia, has long opposed the idea of more oil supplies from OPEC+ as it argues that the oil market was well-supplied.
On Monday, ING noted that OPEC+’s output raise is being held back by the uncertainty regarding the return of Iranian supply to the market. The other factor is the potential for the market to return to a surplus in 2022.
