OPEC+ Unlikely to Tweak Oil Policy in Monday Talks

Trucks wait outside the Guwahati Refinery operated by Indian Oil Corporation, in Guwahati on March 30, 2023. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)
Trucks wait outside the Guwahati Refinery operated by Indian Oil Corporation, in Guwahati on March 30, 2023. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)
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OPEC+ Unlikely to Tweak Oil Policy in Monday Talks

Trucks wait outside the Guwahati Refinery operated by Indian Oil Corporation, in Guwahati on March 30, 2023. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)
Trucks wait outside the Guwahati Refinery operated by Indian Oil Corporation, in Guwahati on March 30, 2023. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)

OPEC+ is likely to stick to its existing deal to cut oil output at a meeting on Monday, five delegates from the producer group told Reuters, after oil prices recovered following a drop to 15-month lows.

Oil has recovered towards $80 a barrel for Brent crude after falling to near $70 on March 20, as fears ease about a global banking crisis and as a halt in exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region curbs supplies.

OPEC+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, is due to hold a virtual meeting of its ministerial monitoring panel, which includes Russia and Saudi Arabia, on Monday.

"It is hard to expect any new development," one of the delegates said of Monday's talks. Another said the Kurdistan curbs and recent price drops were not sufficiently important to affect the overall OPEC+ policy path for 2023.

Three other OPEC+ delegates also said any policy changes were unlikely on Monday. After those talks, the next full OPEC+ meeting is not until June.

Falling oil prices are a problem for most OPEC+ members because their economies rely heavily on oil revenue.

Even so, OPEC+ delegates did not raise any suggestion of further action to support the market after the recent price drop and predicted prices would stabilize - which they have since shown signs of doing.

Last November, OPEC+ reduced its output target by 2 million barrels per day - the largest cut since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The same reduction applies for the whole of 2023.



Report: Syrian Officials Plan to Attend IMF, World Bank Meetings in Washington

A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Report: Syrian Officials Plan to Attend IMF, World Bank Meetings in Washington

A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Syria's finance minister, foreign minister and central bank chief are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC this month, four sources familiar with the plans said.

It would be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades, and the first high-level visit by Syria's new authorities to the US since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

Two of the sources told Reuters it was unclear whether Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh and Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh had yet received visas to the United States.

Spokespeople for the IMF, World Bank, Syrian foreign ministry and Syrian presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The other two sources said a high-level meeting focused on reconstruction efforts for Syria could be held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings.

Syria has been ravaged by nearly 14 years of a war that was sparked by a deadly crackdown on protests against Assad, with much of the country's infrastructure left in ruins.

The government that took over after Assad was ousted has sought to rebuild Syria's ties in the region and further afield, and to win support for reconstruction efforts.

But tough US sanctions imposed during Assad's rule remain in place. In January, the US issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage humanitarian aid, but this has had limited effect. Reuters reported in February that efforts to bring in foreign financing to pay public sector salaries had been hampered by uncertainty over whether this could breach US sanctions.

Last month the US gave Syria a list of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the administration of US President Donald Trump has otherwise engaged little with the country's new rulers.

That is in part due to differing views in Washington on how to approach Syria. Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership's former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum, according to diplomats and US sources.