Earlier previews of the OPEC+ meeting on April 1 are here:
- The expectation is OPEC+ is going to show supply discipline
- JP Morgan on OPEC+ ... existing output cuts to be maintained
- This time around another rollover of existing output cuts is expected.
- OPEC (especially Saudi Arabia) have been cautious on the demand recovery and that will not change at this meeting:
- Saudi Arabia is prepared to support extending oil cuts by OPEC and allies into May and June
- Four reasons oil faces headwinds
Adding now some comments from ANZ, a good recap:
- OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo set the tone, saying the environment remains challenging, complex and uncertain.
- OPEC's cautious approach to the demand recovery saw it extend production curbs into April at the last meeting. Since then the outlook hasn't become any clearer.
- Yesterday France announced it was entering another four-week lockdown, while Italy extended virus restrictions. This has delayed the recovery in demand, and kept the physical market remains over-supplied.
- With so much uncertainty in the short term, we suspect OPEC will be inclined to keep most of the output curbs in place for another month.
