MOSCOW/LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A meeting of top OPEC+ ministers has kept oil output policy unchanged, two OPEC+ sources said while the meeting was under way, 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, started an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting (JMMC) earlier on Thursday.

The meeting will cover plans for some members to compensate for earlier overproduction, two sources said. The chair of the meeting was insisting that members show commitment to the compensation plan, one of them added.

Oil prices have fallen from a 2024 high above $92 a barrel in April to below $82, pressured by concern about the strength of demand but finding support this week from increasing tensions in the Middle East.

OPEC+ is currently cutting output by 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 of Saudi Arabia, Russia and other leading producers, usually meets every two months and can make recommendations to the wider OPEC+ group.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-likely-stick-output-policy-meeting-sources-say-2024-08-01/