OPEC and its allies fear a prolonged second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and a jump in Libyan output could push the oil market into surplus next year, according to a confidential document seen by Reuters, a gloomier outlook than just a month ago.
A panel of officials from OPEC+ producers, called the Joint Technical Committee, considered this worst-case scenario during a virtual monthly meeting on Thursday. In September, the panel had not seen a surplus under any scenarios it considered.
Such a surplus could threaten plans by OPEC, Russia and allies, known as OPEC+, to taper record output cuts made this year by adding 2 million bpd of oil to the market in 2021.
