OPEC+ considers postponing April 28 meeting, hold JMMC only

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – The OPEC+ group of oil producers is considering cancelling its main meeting at the end of April and holding a lower key Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which usually precedes the main meeting, according to market sources familiar with the matter Tuesday.

The move comes after prices rebounded sharply last week after a number of positive economic indicators, while market rebalancing continues with drawdowns in global inventories.  

The JMMC typically reviews overall market fundamentals, including the supply/demand balances, inventories and OPEC+ compliance matters.

Brent futures rallied by around 6% in the week ending April 16, with most of the gains coming on the Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration reported a draw of 5.9 million barrels of crude in the week ending April 9, exceeding analyst forecasts of around 3 million barrels. 

Brent futures for June crude were trading $67.89/b at 1600 Singapore (0800 GMT) Tuesday, up $0.84/b from Monday's settle of $67.05/b.

At the April 1 OPEC+ meeting, the producer group agreed to start softening production curbs of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, 350,000 bpd in June, and a further 400,000 bpd for July.