FX.co ★ Saudi denies oil output hike discussion

Against the backdrop of a tense market situation, any unexpected news may lead to sharp price movements. The Wall Street Journal insider said that OPEC+ would be discussing a 500,000 bpd increase in oil production at a meeting in early December, pushing futures on the North Sea crude to a 10-month low. Only a rebuttal from Saudi Arabia allowed Brent to recover. Was that a fake?

The decision to cut production would mean reversing the previous OPEC+ decree to increase it by 2 mln bpd. However, insiders cited four reasons why such a reverse could take place. Firstly, a day after the meeting, the EU embargo on Russian oil and the G7 price cap on it will come into effect. According to the IEA, these restrictions will lead to a reduction in Russian oil production by 2 mln bpd, to 9.6 mln bpd by the end of March 2023, as Moscow will find it difficult to find new markets.

Changes in oil production in Russia

Second, Saudi Arabia may have made compromises to the US that called for lower oil production after the White House told a federal court that Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman should have sovereign immunity from a lawsuit in the United States over the murder of a Saudi journalist.

Third, OPEC forecasts that oil demand will increase by 1.69 million bpd in the first quarter, to 101.3 million, and a production ramp-up is needed to balance the market.

Finally, the UAE and Iraq have a huge desire to increase production. The former has a quota of just over 3 million bpd, while its production capacity is estimated at 4.45 million bpd, and the country intends to increase it to 5 million bpd by 2025.

The reasons are certainly weighty but in the current conditions, the increase in supply will drag the Brent quotations to the bottom, which is not beneficial both for OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia. Its statement that the Alliance's production cuts of 2 million bpd will be valid until the end of 2023 and no one is going to cancel it, has calmed the oil market. It returned to its usual drivers: the COVID-19 outbreak in China and the assessment of risks associated with squeezing Russia out of the market.

The number of coronavirus cases in China rose to 27,307 per day, which is close to the April peak. The fatalities increase the risks of the economic shutdown, which has a negative impact on demand and prices. On the other hand, Russia's active production cuts could be grounds for a bullish shock.

From the technical point of view, a pin bar with a long lower shadow was formed on Brent's daily chart. If the price manages to reach above the high near $88 per barrel, it may create an opportunity to open short-term longs with the target at the pivot level of $89.4 and the resistance level in the form of the MA at $91. If the price rebounds from these levels, bears may return to the market and drag the price to the downside.