據油價網利雅得報道，《華爾街日報》日前援引沙特阿拉伯高級石油顧問的話說，沙特阿拉伯時下正在考慮取消將在明年1月生效的歐佩克緩和石油減產的計劃。

今年4月份，歐佩克與其以俄羅斯為首的合作伙伴達成協議，把石油日產量減少970萬桶，以應對新冠肺炎疫情爆發導致油價下跌后的需求下滑。從今年7月份開始，每日減產額將減少200萬桶，然后從2021年1月開始減產將再減少200萬桶。

然而，盡管減產，但由于需求在疫情持續的情況下仍然疲軟，因此油價仍未恢復到危機前的水平。盡管參與減產的國家都非常遵守減產協議，但全球石油庫存仍比今年同期的5年平均水平高出了大約2.2億桶。

《華爾街日報》的一位消息人士稱：“市場無法再接受每天200萬桶石油。”但是，消息來源指出，尚未就取消增加的產出作出一個決定。

在這一消息發布之前，歐佩克發布了一份官方報告。報告稱，歐佩克預計全球石油需求將反彈，甚至在2022年超過新冠肺炎疫情大流行前的水平，并將穩步增長，直到本世紀30年代末，需求將開始趨于平穩。

歐佩克在其最新一期的《世界石油展望》報告中表示:，“假設新冠肺炎疫情大流行在明年基本得到控制，全球石油需求預計將在2021年部分恢復，中期預計需求將出現健康增長。”

李峻 編譯自 油價網

原文如下：

Saudi Arabia May Not Want To Ease Output Cuts In January

Saudi Arabia is mulling over canceling a planned relaxation of OPEC oil production cuts due to enter into effect next January, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing senior oil advisers from the Kingdom.

OPEC and its partners led by Russia agreed in April to reduce their combined oil production by 9.7 million barrels daily in response to the demand slump following the outbreak of coronavirus that caused prices to tank. The cuts were to be relaxed by 2 million bpd from July and then by another 2 million bpd from January 2021.

Prices, however, have not recovered to pre-crisis levels despite the cuts as demand remains sluggish amid the continuing pandemic. Global oil inventories are about 220 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year despite strong compliance rates among the participants in the cuts.

“The market can’t take another two million barrels a day,” said one of the Wall Street Journal’s sources. The sources noted, however, that a decision on the cancellation of the output increase has yet to be made.

The news comes on the heels of an official OPEC report, which said the cartel expected global oil demand to rebound and even exceed the pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and grow steadily until the late 2030s, when it will begin to plateau.

“Assuming that the COVID-19 pandemic is largely contained by next year, oil demand is expected to partly recover in 2021 and healthy demand growth rates are foreseen over the medium-term horizon,” OPEC said in its World Oil Outlook report.