The Day at a Glance | November 29 2021

The Top

*OPEC+ postpones its monthly reunion to Wednesday; it will assess decreasing production increases in light of the risks caused by the virus`s new variant.

*Inflation in Spain reached its highest level in 30 years (5.6% annual).

*National crude oil production decreased 0.8% in October to 1.65 million daily barrels (1.5% annual).

*The virus`s new variant (Omicron) has been detected in Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Holland and Scotland.

*Japan restricts entry to foreigners in order to avoid the Omicron variant`s entrance in the country.

*A spike in cases has been recorded in Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Sonora; said states have been placed under a yellow epidemiological level.

Economic environment

OPEC+ will discuss its strategies this week. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will hold a meeting this week to decide whether or not it will continue allowing gradual increases to crude oil production in light of the new variant`s spread. According to comments made by ministers in Russia and Saudi Arabia, the organization is considering increasing production at a slower pace starting in January 2022; even though they recognized that their knowledge about the variant and its impact on the oil market is limited. Currently, OPEC+ is carrying out its plan to increase production in 400 thousand daily barrels every month. The meeting was postponed until Wednesday in efforts to gather more information about the Omicron variant of the virus and its potential impact on the demand for energy. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the severity of the new variant`s risks, which has silently spread around the world and has caused new travel restrictions to be put in place at an international level. According to South African authorities, infections caused by the variant have not been severe, but the WHO believes that it spreads faster and has called on countries to increase testing in order to detect it. The organization doesn`t consider that there is a risk of an accelerated upsurge in cases at a global level, possible health service saturations, or less efficacy among existing vaccines. It`s estimated that it will take at least a couple of weeks to carry out studies on the efficacy of vaccines against the Omicron variant.