OPEC+ Set to Boost Oil Output Amid Peak Summer Demand and Iran Tensions
OPEC+ members are set to consider an oil output increase of 137,000 barrels per day for April, according to three sources familiar with OPEC+ thinking. This decision comes as the group prepares for peak summer demand and a price boost from tensions between the U.S. and OPEC member Iran.
The resumption of output increases after a three-month pause would allow OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and members such as the UAE to regain market share at a time when other OPEC+ members, like Russia and Iran, contend with Western sanctions while Kazakhstan recovers from oil production setbacks.
Eight OPEC+ producers, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, and Oman, will meet on March 1 to discuss the increase. In a separate development, Saudi Arabia has activated a plan for a short-term oil output and export surge in case a U.S. strike on Iran disrupts flows from the Middle East.
The Brent crude benchmark is trading near $71 a barrel, not far from a seven-month high of $72.50 reached this week due to tensions between the United States and Iran.