The Oil market has certain laws, violation of which can cause extremely unpredictable consequences. Sometimes such consequences have no significant impact on the market and sometimes they lead to revision of important decisions. Currently, OPEC has found itself in a similar situation.Nowadays, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo is not satisfied with how some of the cartel’s members, including Iraq, follow the agreement. Looking back, in September 2019, OPEC recommended oil producing countries to reach 100% compliance with the deal. According to preliminary estimates, it could have cut oil extraction by another 400 thousand barrels per day. At the same time, several states, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, announced their willingness to move beyond the existing agreement by the end of this year. According to the OPEC monitoring committee, three countries have failed to comply properly with pledged output reductions. They are Iraq, Nigeria, and Gabon. In September, Iraq fulfilled the agreement by 50%, Nigeria fell short of the target by 228%, and Gabon - by 200%. Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia Minister of Energy, expects that Nigeria, Iraq, Gabon as well as South Sudan will fulfill their obligations under the OPEC+ agreement. The current deal aimed at cutting output by the cartel members and independent oil producers by 1.2 million barrels a day from October 2018 levels. The deal has been extended until April 2020. Another OPEC meeting is scheduled early next month where the delegates will discuss non-fulfilment of some commitments.
