- Oil holds gains ahead of today’s OPEC+ meeting
- OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee recommends a 2 MMBbl/d output cut
- The ministers will discuss the JMMC's recommendation later on Wednesday before making a final policy decision
- Prices were also supported by an EU proposal for an eighth set of sanctions, which includes a price cap on Russian seaborne exports
- OPEC+ is reportedly considering cutting its production by up to 2 MMBbl/d for today's meeting (BBG, Financial Times)
- Additionally, the group may discuss minor cuts of up to 1.5 MMBbl/d
- A delegate further added that any cutbacks would be calculated using the member nations' current baselines, given that several member countries are already producing below their quotas
- The scale of impact would depend on how the production cut is divided among the member nations
- Additionally, the UAE is likely to support the substantial oil production cuts proposed by Saudi Arabia and Russia at Wednesday’s OPEC + meeting despite U.S. efforts to try to stop the deal
- The EU reportedly approved a fresh set of sanctions against Russia today that includes a provision that restricts the export of Russian seaborne crude to third countries above an oil price cap (BBG)
- The legislation would also extend import restrictions on goods, including steel, as well as a ban on the provision of IT, engineering, and legal services to Russian companies
- The price cap contains provisions to lessen the effects that the sanctions will have on nations with significant shipping sectors, such as Greece
- EU Polish ambassador Andrzej Sados told reporters, "We have approved a new package of sanctions. It includes a price cap on Russian oil shipped to third countries and mechanism to avoid circumvention of sanctions.”
- However, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the new price cap on Russian oil will not apply to pipeline shipments
- The G7 is within weeks of announcing a formal cap on the price of Russian oil, according to a U.S. Treasury official
- The step will be announced “substantially before Dec. 5,” Ben Harris, U.S. Treasury’s assistant secretary for economic policy, said on the sidelines of the Argus European Crude Conference in Geneva on Tuesday