Last month, the OPEC+ alliance of producing nations produced 29.24 million bpd of oil, up 120,000 bpd from January. Thus, it was not such important participants as Russia or Saudi Arabia that saved the reputation and, possibly, the future of the whole association, but Nigeria, a small player, trying with all its might to increase its production and reach its quota.
This African country is far from those deterrents available to serious global players such as the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia. Moscow is under pressure from sanctions and the need to find new markets in a world that is completely changing its logistics, getting used to instability as a permanent future reality. Riyadh is also under pressure from circumstances that cannot be resolved: the energy conflict with the American ally has not been resolved and its own economic interests dictate directly opposing tasks.
In this sense, the entire alliance and its image as a regulator of the world market are suffering from the showdown between the two most important members of OPEC+. The cartel’s failure to deliver on its promises and meet the standard set out in the formal agreement is too damaging to the market, which is also being destabilized by other forces, such as Washington’s actions.
Nigeria’s efforts were immediately taken into account in the general report of the alliance of producing countries, which slightly corrected the statistics on the execution of the oil deal. As an apolitical organization, the OPEC+ alliance cannot influence the plight of Saudi Arabia, nor, even more so, of Russia. On the other hand, he is trying by all means to stimulate the growth of production in Nigeria which, despite the increase in production, is still lagging behind. Therefore, by reaching the standard of 1.74 million barrels, not only the alliance, but also Moscow, as a participant in the expanded project, will find the desired output.
Obviously now, whatever decision the commodity cartel leadership makes will lead to accusations from pro-American competitors. An increase in quotas will be seen as a manifestation of greed, recklessness, and a decrease as a weakness of the union, adjusting it to the current situation, and not managing it (which is the task of creating OPEC ).
Photos used: opec.org
