Kazakhstan Helps Shore Up Oil Prices

On Wednesday, December 18, world oil prices rose after Kazakhstan pledged to comply with OPEC+ quotas to limit production, Orda.kz reports.

Trading View reports that Kazakhstan agreed to revise its plans to ramp up production in 2025.

These were linked to the planned expansion of Tengiz, which is expected to boost Kazakhstan's economy.

However, they have conflicted with OPEC's interests in maintaining prices in the world market.

Crude prices found support Wednesday after Kazakhstan said it intends to comply with OPEC+ quotas and shelved its plans to raise oil production by 190,000 bpd next year,
 Trading View said in a report.

Other factors also support the rise in oil prices: potential US sanctions against Russia and Iran, a reduction in the volume of oil in tankers, a new escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict, and the decision of OPEC+ to postpone the quota revision until April.

Trading in January oil futures closed with a rise of 0.71%.

Meanwhile, China's oil demand is slumping: in January-November 2024, it fell by 3.26% year-on-year.

While Kazakhstan's Ministry is trying to comply with oil quotas, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov instructed to boost efforts to increase oil production and ensure the planned production scale on December 17.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny