OPEC+ sticks to oil policy, Oct hike can be paused

MOSCOW/LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters): A meeting of top OPEC+ ministers has kept oil output policy unchanged including a plan to start unwinding one layer of output cuts from October, and repeated that the hike could be paused or reversed if needed.
Top ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or OPEC+ as the group is known, held an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting (JMMC) on Thursday.
The current policy, as agreed in June, calls for some OPEC+ members to gradually phase out output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025.
OPEC+, in a statement, said the members making those cuts "reiterated that the gradual phase-out of the voluntary reduction of oil production could be paused or reversed, depending on prevailing market conditions."
Oil prices have fallen from a 2024 high above $92 a barrel in April to below $82, pressured by concern about the strength of demand but finding support this week from increasing tensions in the Middle East.
OPEC+ in total is currently cutting output by 5.86 million bpd, or about 5.7% of global demand, in a series of steps agreed since late 2022.
At its last meeting in June, the group agreed to extend cuts of 3.66 million bpd by a year until the end of 2025 and to prolong the most recent layer of cuts - the 2.2 million bpd cut by eight members - by three months until the end of September 2024.
Thursday's meeting also noted assurances from Iraq, Kazakhstan and Russia to achieve full conformity with pledged output cuts, the statement said. Those countries had earlier delivered plans to compensate for past overproduction.
An OPEC+ source said the chair of the meeting was insisting that members show commitment to the compensation plan.
The JMMC, which groups the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, Russia and other leading producers, usually meets every two months and can make recommendations to the wider OPEC+ group.
The JMMC will hold its next meeting on Oct. 2.