Several key ministers from OPEC nations convened in Riyadh on January 27 ahead of the scheduled meeting of the OPEC+ ministerial monitoring committee on February 3, as reported by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Photos provided to the publication captured the oil ministers from major OPEC countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq. Also present was Minister Khalifa Abdulsadek from Libya, which is not subject to OPEC's production cuts.
One source told S&P that the discussions were merely "friendly conversations," without going into specifics. Another confirmed that the ministers talked about production plans and the market situation.
The publication notes that recently, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that a reduction in OPEC oil prices is necessary for a swift conclusion to the war in Ukraine. "One way to quickly stop all this is for the OPEC alliance to stop making so much money and lower oil prices," he said, adding that he intends to reach out to Saudi Arabia and OPEC to request a decrease in oil prices.
OPEC and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, have not publicly commented on Trump's statements, but delegates told S&P that the group continues to act cautiously due to the unpredictability of the U.S. leader. One senior OPEC official mentioned that the bloc aims for "sustainable clarity" amidst a flurry of energy-related directives.
Saudi Arabia co-chairs the JMMC alongside Russia, which is not a member of OPEC, and the committee also includes Iraq, the UAE, and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, and Algeria are OPEC nations that, as part of the alliance, belong to the so-called Great8 - eight voluntary OPEC+ countries that cut production beyond OPEC+ quotas.