The ministers from the 13-nation OPEC group and Russian-led exporters met via videoconference on Sunday for the alliance’s 34th ministerial meeting, during which they decided to maintain the October 5 decision of cutting global oil production by two million barrels per day.
In a press release, OPEC said that the October decision was “purely driven by market considerations and recognized in retrospect by the market participants to have been the necessary and the right course of action towards stabilizing global oil markets”.
The OPEC+ decision to cut oil production was at the time largely criticized by the US, who relies mainly on oil imports to heat the country.
US President Joe Biden slammed the decision to cut production as “shortsighted” at the time.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil exporter, was among the main countries lobbying for a cut in oil production.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman at the time dismissed claims that the decision would negatively impact the market.
Iraq was also among the countries who claim to have benefitted from the cut.
Despite earning nearly a billion dollars less in oil revenues in November than it did in October, the deputy general manager of the Iraqi National Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) Saadoun Mohsen last month said that Iraq has taken advantage of OPEC+ production cuts by maintaining export levels and increasing revenue.
Iraqi oil minister on Saturday reaffirmed the commitment of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries to the agreed cuts in production.
Oil prices increased amid shortfalls following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, with the US repeatedly urging members of the oil cartel to increase their oil production in an effort to balance the market.
The Iraqi government depends on oil revenues to pay the salaries of civil servants and cover the costs. The country’s economy is once again booming as oil prices are increasing globally despite suffering in much of 2021 due to record-low oil prices.
