OPEC’s secretary general said he was cautiously optimistic the oil market would recover this year from the slump in demand brought on by the coronavirus pandemic

Oil demand recovery will take a hit from a spike in new coronavirus cases before vaccine roll-outs and stimulus measures help in the second half of the year, International Energy Agency (IEA) said

U.S. crude oil production is expected to fall by 190,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.1 million bpd, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 240,000 bpd

Russia expects to support an increase in oil production by the group, known as OPEC+, of another 500,000 barrels per day from February at next month’s summit of the leading global oil producers

The roll-out of vaccines this month to combat the coronavirus pandemic will not quickly reverse the destruction wrought on global oil demand, International Energy Agency (IEA) warned

The Paris-based watchdog revised down its estimates for oil demand this year by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) and for next year by 170,000 bpd, citing scarce jet fuel use as fewer people travel by air

OPEC and Russia have moved closer to a compromise over oil supply policy for 2021 after talks earlier this week failed to yield a decision on how to tackle weak oil demand

OPEC+ members will consider whether to extend existing oil cuts for three to four months or to gradually increase output from January during their two days of talks

A panel of OPEC+, a group of leading oil producing countries, will hold informal online talks on Saturday prior to meetings scheduled for next week

OPEC and allies including Russia are leaning towards postponement of a planned January increase to oil output by at least three months to support prices as the COVID-19 pandemic continues its second wave