Novak claims that OPEC+ discussed Trump's call to increase oil output

Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, said that the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of the OPEC+ Group of Leading Oil Producers discussed U.S. president Donald Trump's request to increase oil production.

Novak said in comments to Russia’s Rossiya-24 television station that the committee had agreed that OPEC+ would begin gradually increasing its oil production on April 1 in accordance with previous plans.

JMMC removed Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Government from its sources for monitoring production and compliance with supply pacts.

Trump publicly urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its largest member, Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices. He said that this would put an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

Novak responded to a query about whether Trump's remarks were discussed during the JMMC Meeting. "This topic has been partially touched upon in some way," Novak said.

Novak stated that the issue was "certainly on the agenda" in terms of market analyses and the way the deal is working today.

He also added that the OPEC+ Ministers stressed their commitment to the current efforts of OPEC+ to balance the market, and to coordinate their actions.

OPEC+ member countries are currently holding back 5,86 million barrels of daily output or approximately 5.7% of the global demand in a series steps agreed upon since 2022 to help support the market. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey, Alexander Smith and Olesya Astakhova)

(source: Reuters)