There could be some fireworks in the oil market at the weekly open.
Iraq’s oil minister made a comment suggesting they won’t agree to any additional cuts at the June 1 OPEC+ meeting.
What’s not clear is if he meant:
- They will extend the current cuts but won’t cut anymore
- They won’t curtail production at all, abandoning the current quotas
I would hope we get some clarification before the market open but it doesn’t look good. He was asked by a reporter whether Iraq would agree to extend the current voluntary cuts and he replied:
“Iraq has reduced (output) enough and will not agree to any new cut”
Take that for what it’s worth.
In addition, Iraq has overproduced its quota by a cumulative 602k bpd in Q1 and OPEC said it agreed to compensate over the remainder of the year, but this statement certainly calls that assumption into question.
I’d expect to see some pressure on oil at the open.