The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), stick to their plans to slightly increase the oil production by 350,000 barrels per day (bpd). The block has agreed to raise the output starting May 1 until end of June and will cut the production by 400,000 bpd in July.

The oil producers also do not see a lasting impact on demand from India’ COVID-19 crisis. The meeting via teleconference under the chairmanship of Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’ minister of energy, and co-chair Alexander Novak, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, highlighted the continuing recovery in the global economy, supported by unprecedented levels of monetary and fiscal support, while noting that the recovery is expected to pick up speed in the second half of the year.

However, they emphasized, that COVID-19 cases are rising in a number of countries, despite the ongoing vaccination campaigns, and that the resurgence could hamper the economic and oil demand recovery. Overall conformity to the production adjustments was 115% in March 2021, reinforcing the trend of high conformity by the Participating Countries.