Although the Ever Given ship in the Suez Canal was freed, yields rising and a stronger dollar, oil prices managed to stabilize on the upside yesterday, but prices show new weakness this morning. The WTI and the Brent are down about half a percentage point, trading respectively at 61.3 and 64.6 dollars a barrel.
“All the attention will be paid this week to the OPEC + meeting scheduled for Thursday, with the group that will have to decide on production cuts starting from next May 1”, say the analysts of ING recalling that in the last meeting only the Russia and Kazakhstan which made it possible to slightly increase production. All other producers agreed to keep production levels unchanged for April, while Saudi Arabia decided to continue with its further voluntary cut of one million barrels per day.
“Before the market weakness, expectations were that the group would start easing cuts more aggressively from May,” the Dutch bank’s experts say. However, the fluctuations in prices we have seen mean that OPEC + will probably have to take a cautious approach once again ”. The market is now more divided on what the group will decide. ING is of the opinion that production levels are likely to be kept unchanged, with OPEC + wanting to avoid another sell-off. “However, if we see any easing of the cuts, it is likely to be very modest.”