OPEC+ is discussing delaying a planned increase in oil production in October, sources told Reuters

By Alex Lawler, Olesya Astakhova and Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC+ is discussing a delay in a planned output increase next month as oil prices hit a nine-month low, three sources at the producer group told Reuters on Wednesday.

Oil prices fell along with other asset classes on concerns about a weak global economy and particularly weak data from China, the world’s biggest oil importer.

Last week, the group looked set to push ahead with an increase of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) in October, but market volatility due to the shutdown of oil facilities in Libya and a weak demand outlook raised concerns within the group, one of the sources said .

There have been suggestions of delaying the increase, one of the sources said. Another said a delay seemed very possible.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Saudi government’s communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Eight members of OPEC+ – which includes its allies – are scheduled to increase production by 180,000 bpd in October as part of a plan to begin to roll back their latest level of 2.2 million bpd output cuts, keeping in at the same time other discounts until the end of the month. next year.

It traded 1 percent higher at $74.47 a barrel by 1104 GMT on Wednesday, rising on news of a potential delay but remaining at its lowest level since December.

Prices have faced high volatility in recent weeks as conflict between rival factions in OPEC producer Libya over control of the central bank has resulted in a loss of at least 700,000 bpd of output.

Prices fell about 5 percent on Tuesday on news that a possible deal to resolve the conflict was in the works.

Declining Chinese demand and a drop in global refining margins that could translate into less crude being processed by refiners also weighed in.

“While the APAC region should have borne most of the growth this year, China’s underperformance has hurt growth forecasts for 2024 and continued to lag both crude oil imports and levels of refinery production from 2023,” RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said in a note.