OPEC+ likely to stick to output policy at meeting, sources say

LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC+ key ministers meet on Thursday to decide output policy with sources expecting it is unlikely to make any changes to its current deal to cut production and to start unwinding some cuts from October, despite recent sharp declines in oil prices.

Top ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or OPEC+ as the group is known, will hold an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting (JMMC) on Thursday at 1000 GMT.

Five OPEC+ sources have told Reuters this week no changes to the current plan were likely.

Oil has fallen from a 2024 high above $92 a barrel in April to trade around $81 on Wednesday, pressured by concern about the strength of demand but finding support this week from increasing tensions in the Middle East. [O/R]

OPEC+ is currently cutting output by a total of 5.86 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5.7% of global demand, in a series of steps agreed since late 2022.

At its last meeting in June, the group agreed to extend cuts of 3.66 million bpd by a year until the end of 2025 and to prolong the most recent layer of cuts - a 2.2 million bpd cut by eight members - by three months until the end of September 2024.

The current plan also calls for OPEC+ to gradually phase out the cuts of 2.2 million bpd over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025.

The JMMC, which groups the oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other leading producers, usually meets every two months and can make recommendations to the wider OPEC+ group.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler, Olesya Astakhova, Ahmad Ghaddar and Maha El Dahan, Editing by David Evans)