OPEC+ Sees Smaller Oil Market Surplus Before Ministers Meet

(Bloomberg) -- OPEC+ technical experts revised down their expectations for the oil market surplus, the day before ministers meet to set production policy for April. 

The group has revised down the forecast for this year's daily oil surplus by about 200,000 barrels to 1.1 million barrels, according to the base-case in a report that will be reviewed by OPEC+ experts later on Tuesday.

The data prepared for the OPEC+ Joint Technical Committee, which presents a report to ministers when they meet on Wednesday, shows fuel stockpiles in developed nations standing at 62 million barrels below the 2015 to 2019 average by the end of the year, compared with a previous forecast of 20 million barrels. 

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners -- a 23-nation group including Russia -- have come under pressure in recent months to raise production faster and rein in oil prices. The group has so far signaled no change in their output policy of releasing an additional 400,000 barrels a day each month onto the market. 

In January, the group has produced 972,000 barrels a day less than the targets outlined in the deal, another report by the JTC shows. OPEC members, including Iraq, Nigeria and others, have been struggling to reach their production quotas, causing global energy markets to tighten as demand recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

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