Image Source: Pixabay

OPEC spare production capacity is getting smaller by the minute. OPEC+ has agreed to increase oil production by 137,000 barrels per day in December 2025 but will pause further production increases from January to March 2026 to avoid a supply glut during a seasonally weaker demand period. But does this mean that OPEC plus is worried about oversupply or is it because the group is seeing diminished spare oil production capacity and because Russia’s energy infrastructure keeps getting hit by Ukraine attacks. Russia, according to reports, was the one that pushed hardest for a pause because they need a pause because their infrastructure is being diminished and they’re getting socked with sanctions on Rosneft and Luke oil. Russia showed a bit of this desperation at this meeting which shows that they’re starting to feel the impact of President Trump’s pressure and Ukraine continued attacks.

Reuters reported that, “A Ukrainian drone attack struck one of Russia’s main Black Sea oil ports on Sunday, causing a fire and damaging at least one ship, as Kyiv tries to undermine Russia’s war effort by targeting its energy infrastructure. Footage on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram news channels appeared to show a terminal and one tanker ablaze at night. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the timing or location of the images.

 Oil prices reacted positively to the pause announcement, rising modestly in early Asian trading and on the report but we saw oil give back gains on the fact that rumors of a US attack on Venezula did not happen and rumors of a supposed oil glut still is believed by some.

Recent discussions regarding an oil surplus continue to anchor market sentiment, despite skepticism from certain industry participants. While some oil majors challenge the notion of a glut, others acknowledge indicators of excess supply; however, this situation differs from historical oil gluts. Currently, surplus oil is being stored on ships, while inventories on land remain depleted. This has prompted questions about the underlying causes of such floating storage. Additionally, there are notable risks to Venezuelan and Russian oil supplies. Nevertheless, the prevailing market view is that sufficient supply exists for now. Ultimately, these conditions will need to be reflected in actual data.

Additionally,Fox Weather is pointing to colder weather forecasts for early November, and those forecasts have boosted natural gas demand expectations, while LNG exports are reaching record levels despite some temporary outages. This could be a significant cold, increasing heating demand expectation, causing a price rally in natural gas futures, while LNG exports hit record feedgas volumes despite a temporary outage at Freeport LNG. EBW Analytics says that US storage is still on pace to exceed 3,950 Bcf, November weather is shifting milder, and production is rebounding strongly to open November. Long-term fundamentals remain supportive, but momentum is stronger than near-to-medium term fundamentals suggest.

Fox Weather is also reporting that, “A weak coastal storm moving up the U.S. East Coast is bringing rain to portions of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast to kick off the new week, and while impacts are expected to be minimal, there could be some travel delays along parts of the Interstate 95 corridor as well as airports across the region.

More By This Author: