<article><p class="lead">Opec ministers have deferred discussions on the outlook for global oil demand and how to address a potential widening supply surplus until they meet with their non-Opec counterparts tomorrow, delegates said. </p><p>Although Opec president Diamantino Azevedo opened the group's ministerial assembly today with a speech highlighting the uncertainties surrounding demand, the meeting itself did not broach the subject of January output quotas. Instead, it addressed only procedural issues such as Opec's long-term strategy, its budgets and the appointment of a new secretary-general, according to delegates. </p><p>The successor of outgoing Opec secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo, who ends his mandate in the summer of next year, has yet to be elected. Kuwait's former Opec governor Haitham al-Ghais <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2270686">has already been nominated</a>, but the floor has now been opened for other countries to put forward candidates. Opec ministers will meet again in January to deal with the secretary-general issue, before the monthly Opec+ assembly, according to three delegates. Two of those delegates said the new secretary-general will be elected at that meeting by majority vote.</p><p>While expected to maintain political neutrality, the Opec secretary-general plays an important role as mediator, both within Opec itself and in recent years within the wider Opec+ coalition. In his near six-years at the helm, Barkindo has played a significant part in elevating the African contingent's position in the group.</p><p>In terms of near-term output policy, a decision on January crude output quotas will be made by Opec+ ministers tomorrow, informed by recommendations from the Opec+ group's Joint Technical Committee and Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee. Earlier today, an Opec forecast showed a 2mn b/d surplus emerging in January, growing to 3.4mn b/d in February and 3.8mn b/d in March, according to one source. </p><p>The Opec+ roadmap to restore the production that it removed from the market last year entails monthly hikes of 400,000 b/d to April next year, followed by a rise of 432,000 b/d each month until all of the group's original 9.7mn b/d cut is unwound. The increases must be rubber-stamped at monthly ministerial meetings and can be paused for up to three months if market conditions warrant it.</p><p class="bylines">By Nader Itayim, Rowena Edwards, Ruxandra Iordache and Adal Mirza</p></article>
