OPEC+ oil output delay a ‘reality check’ as group eyes demand, U.S. outlook, Saudi energy min says
The OPEC+ “precautionary” decision to postpone crude production hikes until after the first quarter bides the group time to assess developments in global demand, European growth and the U.S. economy, according to the coalition’s chair, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman.
On Thursday, the oil producers’ alliance agreed to extend several output cuts, with the timeline to start gradually unwinding a 2.2-million-barrels-per-day voluntary decline undertaken by a subset of OPEC+ members pushed back by three months to April.
Several group members are delivering a second voluntary production decline, while the coalition as a whole is also restricting production under its formal policy — both now set to stretch until Dec. 31, 2026, rather than the previously penciled end of 2025.
Speaking to CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Friday, the Saudi energy minister said OPEC+ had to undertake a “reality check” and reconcile supply-demand signals with market sentiment and attend to “the fundamentals, yet put together something that mitigate these negative sentiments within, of course, the contours of what OPEC+ can do.”
Barclays analysts partly echoed the minister’s feelings, saying the alliance “maintained a cautious stance” and suggesting “market share concerns among members are likely exaggerated.”
Saudi energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman on Oct. 5, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
OPEC+ faces a spate of variables affecting the supply-demand picture and geopolitical uncertainties, ranging from economic growth amid lowering inflation to conflict in the oil-rich Middle Eastern region and the January White House return of President-elect Donald Trump — a long-time champion of the U.S. oil industry, who applied protectionist tariffs on China and sanctioned Iran for its nuclear program during his first presidential mandate.
“There are so many other things, you know, growth in China, what is happening in Europe, growth in Europe … what is happening in the U.S. economy, such as interest rate, inflation,” the Saudi energy minister said Friday.
“But honestly, the primary cause for moving, or shifting, the bringing of these ballots is [supply-demand] fundamentals. It’s not a good idea to bring volumes in the first quarter.”
The first quarter typically sees inventory build-ups due to lower demand for transport fuels.
OPEC+ member compliance
In a Friday note, analysts at HSBC assessed that the Thursday OPEC+ agreement is “marginally supportive” for supply-demand balances, reducing the projected market surplus in 2025 to just 0.2 million barrels per day, if the oil producers’ alliance proceeds with hiking production in April.
“Another delay, which we would not rule out, would leave the market broadly in balance next year,” they said. “While OPEC+’s decision to hold off strengthens fundamentals in the near term, it could be seen as an implicit admission that demand is sluggish.”
Demand has been at the forefront of OPEC+ considerations, with the OPEC’s November Monthly Oil Market Report seeing 1.54 million barrels-per-day of year-on-year growth in 2025.
The Paris-based International Energy Agency, meanwhile, last month forecast that world oil demand will expand by 920,000 barrels per day this year and just under 1 million barrels per day in 2025.
Market concerns have especially lingered over the outlook of the world’s largest crude importer, China, whose convalescent economy has received a governmental boost in recent months by way of stimulus measures.
Abdulaziz bin Salman said OPEC+ had “not necessarily” lost confidence in global crude appetite or in recoveries in China, but admitted that “what is not helpful was the fact that some [OPEC+] countries were not attending to their commitments properly.”
OPEC+ has increasingly cracked down on member compliance with individual quotas — which has in the past included the likes of Iraq, Kazakhstan and Russia — and requires overproducers to make up excess barrels with additional cuts. The deadline for these compensations is now the end of June 2026.
Oil prices have retreated despite the three-pronged extension to production hikes, with the Ice Brent contract with February expiry trading at $71.40 per barrel at 2:46 p.m. London time, down by 0.96% from the Thursday close. Front-month January Nymex WTI futures dipped to $67.63 per barrel, lower by 0.98% from the previous day’s settlement price.
“While prices are likely to stay volatile in the near term, we expect falling inventories this year and a closely balanced market next year, in contrast to market expectations for a strongly oversupplied market, to support prices over the coming months,” UBS Strategist Giovanni Staunovo said in a Friday note.
![Genesis GV90 leaks as breathtaking ultra-luxe SUV with coach doors [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/Genesis-GV90-leak-coach-doors.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Genesis is gearing up to launch the stunning new flagship SUV. Ahead of its official debut, the GV90 leaked during an internal presentation, revealing our first look at the ultra-luxe electric SUV.
Genesis GV90 leak reveals coach doors and more
The GV90 is arriving as the largest, most luxurious Genesis SUV to date. Based on the Neolun Concept, the new flagship SUV will sit above the GV80 as Genesis expands into new segments.
As Genesis calls it, the “ultra-luxe, state-of-the-art SUV” stole the spotlight at the New York Auto Show last March.
It wasn’t the stunning, reductive design inspired by Korea’s moon-shaped porcelain jars or the premium Royal Indigo and Purple silk materials that caught most people’s attention at the event, but the B-pillarless coach doors.
The SUV was showcased with Rolls-Royce-like coach doors, offering a new level of luxury for Genesis. Although we’ve seen the GV90 spotted out in public testing a few times now with coach doors, we wondered if they would make it to the production model.
After the full-size SUV reportedly leaked during an internal presentation, it looks like we’ve found our answer. The Genesis GV90 leak reveals two versions: a standard model and a coach-door model.
The leaked images from our friends at ShortsCar offer our first look at the production version in full. Earlier this month, a GV90 prototype was spotted out in public with the coach doors wide open, providing a sneak peek of the interior.
From what was shown, the cabin will feature a similar layout to the concept, with high-end purple and indigo materials. The GV90 was also caught with an all-black interior, which is expected to be the standard version.
A new video from the folks over at HealerTV offers a closer look at the breathtaking interior ahead of its official debut.
The GV90 appears to retain the gear selector located near the top of the steering wheel from the Neolun concept.
Another report, from TheKoreanCarBlog, confirms the new gear selector after the first interior spy shots surfaced.
From what we’ve seen so far, the GV90 is shaping up to be a near replica of the ultra-luxe Neolun concept. Genesis has yet to announce a launch date for the GV90, but it is expected to make an official debut by the end of the year with sales starting in mid-2026.
Prices and final specs, like driving range, will be revealed closer to launch, but the Genesis GV90 is rumoured to be the first vehicle to ride on Hyundai’s new eM platform.
Hyundai said the new platform will deliver a 50% improvement in range compared to its current E-GMP-based EVs, such as the IONIQ 5. It’s also expected to offer Level 3 autonomous driving as well as other advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features.
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Turning cheap daytime solar into electricity you can actually use at night just got a lot cheaper. A new analysis from energy think tank Ember shows that utility-scale battery storage costs have fallen to $65 per megawatt-hour (MWh) as of October 2025 in markets outside China and the US. At that level, pairing solar with batteries to deliver power when it’s needed is now economically viable.
Battery storage costs have fallen dramatically over the past two years, and the decline continues. Following a steep decline in 2024, Ember’s analysis indicates that prices continued to fall sharply again in 2025.
The findings are based on real-world data from recent battery and solar-plus-storage auctions in Italy, Saudi Arabia, and India, as well as interviews with active developers across global markets.
According to Ember, the cost of a whole, grid-connected utility-scale battery storage system for long-duration projects (four hours or more) is now about $125 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as of October 2025. That figure applies to projects outside China and the US. Core battery equipment delivered from China costs around $75/kWh, while installation and grid connection typically add another $50/kWh.
Those lower upfront costs have pushed down the levelized cost of storage (LCOS) to just $65/MWh. Ember’s calculation reflects real-world assumptions around financing costs, system lifetime, efficiency, and battery degradation.
Cheaper hardware isn’t the only reason storage costs are falling. Longer battery lifetimes, higher efficiencies, and lower financing costs, helped by clearer revenue models such as auctions, have all contributed to the sharp drop in LCOS. Ember has published a live calculator alongside the report, allowing users to estimate LCOS using their own assumptions.
Why this matters comes down to how solar is actually used. Most solar power is generated during the day, so only a portion needs to be stored to make it dispatchable. Ember estimates that if half of daytime solar generation is shifted to nighttime, the $65/MWh storage cost adds about $33/MWh to the cost of solar electricity.
With the global average price of solar at $43/MWh in 2024, adding storage would bring the total cost to about $76/MWh, delivering power in a way that better matches real demand.
As Ember global electricity analyst Kostantsa Rangelova put it, after a 40% drop in battery equipment costs in 2024, the industry is now on track for another major fall in 2025. The economics of battery storage, she said, are “unrecognizable,” and the industry is still adjusting to this new reality.
“Solar is no longer just cheap daytime electricity; now it’s anytime dispatchable electricity. This is a game-changer for countries with fast-growing demand and strong solar resources,” Rangelova added.
Together, solar and battery storage are increasingly emerging as a scalable, secure, and affordable foundation for future power systems.
Read more: EIA: Solar + storage soar as fossil fuels stall through September 2025
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss a very telling Tesla Optimus fail, Rivian’s AI/Autonomy day, Mercedes GLB EV, and more.
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