Saudi Arabia plans to increase oil production in the coming months and reverse a recent major production cut, advisors from the kingdom said, a sign of growing confidence in a recovery in oil prices.
The world’s largest oil exporter surprised oil markets last month when it said it would unilaterally cut 1 million barrels of crude oil in February and March in an effort to raise prices.
But the kingdom plans to announce a reversal of those cuts when a coalition of oil producers meets next month, the advisers said, in light of the recent price rebound. The output increase won’t start until April, as the Saudis have already pledged to stick to the cuts until March.
The advisers warned that the plans could still be reversed if circumstances change, and the Saudis’ intention has not yet been communicated to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the people and OPEC delegates said.
“We are in a much better place than a year ago, but I must warn again about complacency,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, said at a conference Wednesday. “The uncertainty is very high, and we have to be extremely careful.”