In spite of appeals for larger rises to control crude prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners, known as OPEC+, said on Thursday that they will stick to a previously planned output boost in August.
OPEC+ resolved to advance the 432,000 barrels per day (bpd) scheduled output increases for September and allocate it equally to the previous two months at its most recent meeting in early June, increasing production by 648,000 bpd in July and August.
The decision to boost output by 648,000 bpd in August was approved during the 30th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on Thursday, according to an OPEC statement issued following the meeting.
According to the statement, the decision was made based on “current oil market fundamentals and the consensus on its future.”
The decision by the oil alliance was made on Thursday, when geopolitical tensions, ongoing supply constraints, and high crude prices were all present. In recent weeks, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude has stayed close to 110 dollars a barrel.
The United States and other major oil users have been pressuring OPEC+ to increase output more gradually in order to lower sky-high prices. However, the oil producing organization has resisted these pressures.
The COVID-19 epidemic severely impacted demand in 2020, causing OPEC+ to drastically reduce oil output. The company stated its intention to completely phase out the output cuts by September 2022 and decided to gradually unravel the output cuts in July 2021.
OPEC+ has not yet decided on new production goals for September and beyond since its anticipated output increases in September have been moved up to July and August.
The topic was not covered in the statement released on Thursday, but it is anticipated that a decision will be made on it at the upcoming OPEC+ ministerial meeting, which will take place on August 3.
Midway through July, U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, and is anticipated to persuade Riyadh to increase oil production.
