OPEC+ considers excluding oil data from IEA after criticism

(Bloomberg) — OPEC+ is considering whether to exclude oil production estimates provided by the International Energy Agency, a public snub that would come after months of more raucous criticism from both sides.

Ministers will discuss the proposal on Thursday, delegates said, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The measure would change the composition of OPEC's estimate of “secondary sources” of crude oil production that appears in its monthly report and is used to measure compliance with its production quotas.

would also mark the culmination of months of attacks between the IEA, which represents the interests of major energy consumers, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. For several years, the two groups tried to work together more closely, but the severe energy crisis that has hit markets over the past six months and the growing push to reduce carbon emissions have made cooperation difficult.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, has ridiculed the IEA's proposals on how the world could avoid damaging climate change. When the long rebound in oil prices began last year, OPEC+ ministers blamed the agency, claiming it had been discouraging investment in vital resources.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, led by OPEC+ together with Saudi Arabia, deepened the gap. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said he was disappointed by OPEC+'s lack of response to the crisis, which brought crude oil to more than US$100 a barrel. As OPEC ignored US requests to pump more, the agency led the first coordinated release of its members' emergency oil reserves in more than a decade in an attempt to lower prices.

The IEA provides only one of the six sets of production estimates that make up the figure for “secondary sources”. OPEC is considering replacing it with figures from Wood Mackenzie Ltd. and Rystad A/S, one delegate said.

The IEA press service was not able to comment immediately.

Original Note:

OPEC+ Mulls Snubbing IEA Oil Data as Political Rift Deepens (1)

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