The Impact of Ending OPEC+ V8 Voluntary Cuts

In a surprising move, the eight OPEC+ countries that made voluntary cuts (The V8: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman) announced they will stick to their plans, end the voluntary cuts, and gradually increase production starting April 1. This move was planned since late December, but we and others expected them to extend the cuts as they did before on weak demand. Below we discuss the impact of the unwinding of voluntary cuts.