Bloomberg: OPEC+ to raise production quotas at June meeting

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Business FM on the reasons for the increase in OPEC+ production and its impact on the world oil prices dynamics:

"OPEC+ decided to increase production a year ago, in June 2024. Several times, the decision was shifted due to the fact that prices were falling, and OPEC+ was looking for an opportunity. Such a case turned up thanks to Trump, who launched his trade wars, and it was Trump's actions that caused the price drop that we saw in April. OPEC+ took advantage of this moment, because if it had been done in the fall of 2024, then everyone would have blamed OPEC+ for the fact that its position led to a drop in prices.

Now this is not the case, everyone is blaming Trump. Nothing sensational is happening, the decision was made a long time ago, it is really inevitable, because many OPEC+ member countries are not ready to continue not only to reduce, but also to restrain production growth, these are Kazakhstan, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates. OPEC+ is trying to maintain the unity of its ranks in this way. In general, this is a policy of self-preservation, so that it does not work out, as with Angola at the end of 2020, which slammed the door after leaving OPEC+ because it was not satisfied with the established quotas. That is, these decisions, in fact, legalize the production growth that is already taking place, which cannot be stopped."