On Tuesday, OPEC’s Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo expected that there are signs that the oil supply would see a surplus in the next few months and urged members and allies to be very cautious regarding their oil output.
Barkindo elaborated that the surplus is already starting in December. "These are signals that we have to be very, very careful," Barkindo commented.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) has been gradually easing its oil production cut started in 2020 by increasing output by 400,000 bpd/month. Barkindo declined to say if he thought OPEC+ would stick to the existing policy when it meets on December 2.
Per September, the oil inventories in the member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were at 2.8 billion barrels, lower by 374 million barrels year-on-year.
Meanwhile, OPEC predicted that in 2022, demand growth would likely slow. On the other hand, supply from other producers including US shale companies is set to increase.
"The projections, not only from OPEC but from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and other sources, show that throughout the quarters of next year there will be oversupply in the market using the metric of the OECD stocks," Barkindo said.
He underlined that OPEC has a keen interest in ensuring the global economic recovery continues.
