Some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are mulling details about possibly suspending Russia’s participation in an oil production deal, according to a Tuesday report in the Wall Street Journal citing OPEC delegates.
While there has been no formal action brought forward, some OPEC members in the Persian Gulf are anticipating an output increase in the next few months that could possibly be tied to an apparent Western effort to get Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other OPEC countries to pump more crude oil and lower the current exorbitant oil prices.
“We all agreed that Russia is technically out of the effective participation in the DoC at the moment,” an OPEC delegate reportedly said, referring to the Declaration of Cooperation established half a decade ago.
The report comes as both Western sanctions and the partial embargo in the EU’s latest round of sanctions threaten Moscow’s ability to pump crude oil.
The OPEC is slated to hold its 29th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting via videoconference on June 2.
OPEC has been coordinating oil production with Moscow since 2016.
The 13 members and 10 non-OPEC producers are expected to approve an increase of some 432,000 barrels a day in an attempt to return production to pre-pandemic levels.
US and European leaders have argued that the series of incremental increases are not enough to bring about desired results.
Russia’s Ministry of Energy has said it will not comment on the related reports until after the Thursday meeting.