US, Chinese Strategic Reserve Buys May Offset Oil Surplus, Russia’s Gazprom Neft Says

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U.S. and Chinese purchases for strategic oil reserves are expected to offset any potential global surplus, keeping oil prices in check, the head of the Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft said on Friday.

The eight members of OPEC+, which groups OPEC and other producers led by Russia, are unwinding voluntary production cuts and have agreed monthly increases for April through July, when they will meet to decide on August production.

OPEC+ production growth in the coming months is unlikely to lead to market overstocking, said Alexander Dyukov, CEO of Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom.

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It is also not expected to affect prices, he told journalists at an economic forum in Saint Petersburg.

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“The new U.S. administration has set the task of replenishing strategic oil reserves as soon as possible, which have fallen to about 400 million barrels – less than 20 days of consumption – with storage capacity of over 700 million barrels,” he said.

“China has announced that it will accelerate the replenishment of strategic fuel reserves planned for this year,” he added.

(Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva; Editing by Joe Bavier)