OPEC+ raises oil quotas amid Middle East tension
Key members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, jointly known as OPEC+, on Sunday announced a higher-than-expected increase in production quotas following United States and Israeli strikes on Iran, which triggered retaliation by Tehran across the Middle East.
The eight-member V8 (Voluntary Eight) group within the alliance, which includes major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as several Gulf states affected by Tehran’s missile strikes, said it had agreed to a “production adjustment” of 206,000 barrels per day.
“This adjustment will be implemented in April,” the group said in a statement, according to a report by AFP. Nigeria is also a strong member of OPEC.
The statement did not directly reference the outbreak of conflict involving Iran, instead citing “a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals” as justification for the increase.
Before the weekend meeting, analysts had projected a more modest rise of 137,000 barrels per day.
However, Jorge Leon, an analyst at Rystad Energy, cautioned that the agreed increase might not be sufficient to prevent the Iran conflict from triggering a spike in oil prices when trading resumes on Monday
-The Punch
