OPEC members achieved “high overall conformity” to production quotas in May and June, OPEC’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) said in a press release following Thursday’s uneventful meeting.
On August 1, 2024, OPEC’s JMMC reviewed crude oil production data from its members for May and June 2024, noting high overall conformity among OPEC and non-OPEC countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC). The committee highlighted the commitment of Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia—chronic laggards in the agreement to cut oil production— to achieve full conformity, acknowledging their compensation plans for overproduced volumes since January 2024.
OPEC+ members also reiterated that the gradual phase-out of the voluntary production cuts could be paused or even reversed according to market conditions and needs.
The voluntary reduction of oil production by OPEC+ members to the tune of 2.2 million barrels per day is set to run through the end of September 2024, and the group has laid out a plan to gradually phase these cuts out between then and the end of September 2025.
Until then, the JMMC will continue monitoring production adjustments decided at the 37th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM) on June 2, 2024, which includes additional voluntary adjustments announced by participating countries.
OPEC said that the JMMC would retain the authority to convene additional meetings or request an OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting as necessary—based on market conditions.
In the weeks leading up to today’s meeting, the JMMC—the OPEC+ panel tasked with monitoring the oil market and its members’ compliance with the production quotas—was not expected to make any changes to the current production policy plan of the group. Most industry analysts correctly anticipated that OPEC+ would at least wait to see how summer demand shook out before attempting to begin the careful unwinding of the cuts.
The next JMMC meeting is scheduled for October 2, 2024.