Maputo, 6 Apr (AIM) – The Mozambican Association of Oil Companies (AMEPETROL) believes that the price of fuel, on the Mozambican market, may increase in the coming months, following Sunday’s announcement by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) on cutting oil production by two million barrels per day.
In a statement, OPEC+ said the decision to cut production was made “in light of the uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks.”
“The national companies are concerned with the decision adopted by OPEC+. The consequences will be felt in the domestic market”, warned the AMEPETROL document, adding that the “OPEC+ announcement is already causing a price increase of Brent oil on the international market and this will tends to increase in the coming weeks.”
The next few months, says the document, will be challenging in terms of oil prices.
The price of liquid fuels in Mozambique has been essentially unchanged for the past year, but AMEPETROL doubts that this stability can continue.
However, stresses the organization, “We reiterate our commitment to continuously serve the county in the import, storage and distribution of fuel as we did in previous years. We have been accompanying the evolution of the prices of crude oil and its derivatives on the international market.”
The group of major oil producers, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, announced the production cut following its first meeting in person since March 2020. The reduction is equivalent to about two per cent of global oil demand.
The production cuts will start in November (OPEC+) and the OPEC+ allies will meet again in December.
Global oil prices, which soared in the first half of the year, have since dropped sharply on fears that a global recession will depress demand. Brent crude is down by 20% since the end of June. The global benchmark hit a peak of 139 dollars a barrel in March 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
OPEC and its allies, which control more than 40% of global oil production, are hoping to pre-empt a drop in demand for their barrels from a sharp economic slowdown in China, the United States and Europe.
(AIM)
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