OPEC+
Supply fears return as OPEC+ eyes output expansion
OPEC+ never fails to disappoint oil bulls, this time sending ripples through the media landscape as its leading members signalled readiness to start hiking production again after a quota freeze in Q1 2026, OilPrice.com reports.
The physical impact of OPEC+’s alleged plans wasn’t as steep as one could expect, particularly because robust US inflation data rekindled hopes that interest rate cuts could be back on the short-term agenda again. ICE Brent is set to close the week off slightly above $67 per barrel, a 2% week-on-week drop.
Saudi Arabia Wants Its Market Share Back. According to media reports, OPEC+ countries are currently leaning towards a resumption in oil production hikes from April 2026 onwards as the oil group reconvenes for its monthly meeting on March 1, having raised output quotas by 2.9 million b/d last year.
Publishing its monthly report this week, OPEC anticipates Q2 crude demand for OPEC+ barrels to drop by 400,000 b/d compared to January-March 2026, but the oil group kept its global demand growth forecast for this year unchanged at 1.34 million b/d.
Libya’s Tripoli government awarded oil and gas exploration blocks to international majors such as Chevron, ENI, Repsol and QatarEnergy in the country’s first licensing round since 2007, but only 5 out of 20 blocks on offer were allocated due to drilling commitment disputes.
Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports to China are expected to reach a 3-year high after the country’s refiners nominate at least 58 million barrels for March-loading cargoes, benefiting from lower prices as Saudi Aramco cut prices for the fourth straight month.
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB), the world’s top producer of lithium, decided to idle its Kemerton processing plant in Australia after the US-based miner posted a larger-than-expected quarterly loss in Q4, coming in at $456 million after a net profit of $34 million a year ago.
The world’s top operator of futures exchanges CME, is reportedly planning to launch the world’s first rare earth futures, combining neodymium and praseodymium into one financial instrument, helping companies hedge their exposure to soaring prices.
According to Reuters, Venezuela’s state-controlled PDVSA has been negotiating with its existing joint venture Partners Chevron, Repsol and Maurel & Prom to expand their acreage beyond what is already allocated to them.
Following a two-week lull in confirmed refinery hits, Ukraine has struck the 320,000 b/d Volgograd refinery this week, quickly followed by an attack on the smaller Ukhta refinery in the Siberia’s Komi region, with both plants operated by private major Lukoil.
US President Donald Trump is expected to lower some of the administration’s 2025 tariffs on steel and aluminium goods, currently pegged at 50%, as the US Commerce Department claims they contributed to a wider spike in canned food items.
Argentina’s state oil firm YPF (NYSE:YPF), joined by Italy’s ENI and ADNOC’s investment arm XRG, has signed a binding development agreement on the 12 mtpa Argentina LNG project, Planning two floating regasification facilities with a 6 mtpa capacity each.
During TotalEnergies’ (NYSE:TTE) Q4 results presentation call, CEO Patrick Pouyanne stated that Namibia’s giant Mopane find contains at least 800 million barrels of recoverable oil, believing an FID on the 200,000 b/d FPSO would take place at some point in 2028.
The Trump government has issued a general licence to India’s leading private refiner Reliance Industries to buy Venezuelan crude directly without violating remaining sanctions, less than a week after Reliance bought a 2-million-barrel cargo from trader Vitol.
Chinese sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) dropped sharply from December, coming in at only 945,000 units or 45% lower month-over-month, as Belling halved its purchase tax exemption to 15,000 per unit ($2,170) after EV penetration reached 48% in 2025.
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