OREANDA-NEWS. Saudi Arabia has confirmed plans to increase oil production from April 1, when the OPEC+ agreement to reduce oil production expires. A Russian media source was informed by a source among traders familiar with Saudi Aramco's plans.

"Yes, they have everything in force. They promise to bring up to 12.3 million barrels", he said. The Kingdom’s Ministry of Energy hasn't commented on this information yet. But earlier, Saudi Aramco announced that it had received instructions from the ministry to increase production from April to maximum levels of 12.3 million bpd. To achieve this volume, some of the raw materials will even be withdrawn from the domestic market.

On Monday, March 30, the price of Brent oil fell below $ 23 per barrel for the first time since 2002 on expectations of a massive increase in production by OPEC countries from April 1.

The agreement to reduce oil production expires in late March. It wasn't possible to extend it due to the opposing positions of the two largest parties to the transaction: Russia proposed to extend the agreement on the same terms and only for the II quarter of 2020, and Saudi Arabia - to increase the reduction by 1.5 million barrels per day until the end of the year.