*
Virtual JMMC meeting set for 1100 GMT on Feb. 1
*
Agreed 2 mbpd cut on October, still in place
*
JTC meeting on Jan. 31 cancelled
(Adds detail on JTC cancellation, updates number of sources)
By Rowena Edwards, Alex Lawler and Maha El Dahan
LONDON/DUBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - An OPEC+ panel is
likely to recommend keeping the oil producer group's current
output policy unchanged when it meets this week, five OPEC+
delegates told Reuters on Monday.
Ministers from OPEC+ countries - members of the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and others including
Russia - are due to hold a virtual meeting at 1100 GMT on Feb.
1.
The panel, called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee
(JMMC), can call for a full OPEC+ meeting if warranted.
Five OPEC+ sources told Reuters last week that the JMMC
would discuss the economic outlook and the scale of Chinese
demand, and was unlikely to suggest tweaks to current policy.
One said the rebound in oil prices in 2023 made any changes
unlikely.
"The boat is not really in stormy seas right now, so why
rock something that's not moving?" said Ole Hansen, head of
commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
The group will want to buy some time given the uncertainty related to sanctions on Russia and their impact on supply, Hansen added. OPEC+ agreed in October to cut its production target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd), about 2% of world demand, from November until the end of 2023.
The JMMC meeting had been due to follow a meeting of the OPEC+ joint technical committee (JTC) on Jan. 31. This has now been cancelled, four OPEC+ sources also told Reuters on Monday. The JTC was cancelled because there is nothing new to discuss, two sources said. The committee advises the JMMC and the overall OPEC+ ministerial meeting on market fundamentals. (Reporting by Rowena Edwards, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Ahmad Ghaddar, and Olesya Astakhova; Additional reporting by Swati Verma; Editing by David Goodman, Jason Neely and Jan Harvey)
