OPEC Announced Risks for Oil Markets in the First Half of 2021

The economy and oil sector are just beginning to recover from 2020 losses, the OPEC secretary general warned. The ministers of the oil exporting countries will decide on January 4 whether to increase oil production.  Numerous threats of a drop in oil markets in the first half of 2021 continue to persist, despite a number of “encouraging signals”. This stated the Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammad Barkindo at the OPEC + Technical Committee Meeting opening in the format of a videoconference, on Sunday, January 3.  “We are just beginning to recover from the deep investment cuts last year, huge job losses and the worst ever demand for crude oil,” Barkindo said. He also recalled that "restrictions on social and economic activity" continue to persist in a number of countries. In addition, a new mutation of the coronavirus is causing certain concerns, the OPEC Secretary General added.  In the second half of 2021, there should be an economic recovery with “growth potential,” continued Muhammad Barkindo. Nevertheless, it will take several years before such spheres related to tourism and leisure will recover to pre-pandemic levels, he warned.  OPEC + will decide on the need to increase oil production  The ministers of the OPEC + countries will hold two meetings on January 4, during which they will decide whether to increase oil production in February by another 0.5 million barrels per day. In December 2020, oil exporting countries have already agreed to increase production by a similar figure as part of a planned gradual increase in the limit by 2 million barrels per day throughout the year.  As it became known in early January, oil production in Russia in 2020 dropped to almost the level of ten years ago. Production volumes decreased by 8.6 percent compared to 2019 and amounted to 512.68 million tons.