Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries are discussing an oil output increase to be determined at its next meeting, the Wall Street Journal reports, “a move that could help heal a rift with the Biden administration and keep energy flowing amid new attempts to blunt Russia’s oil industry over the Ukraine war.”
Delegates told the Wall Street Journal the increase may amount to up to 500,000 barrels a day, and would be determined at OPEC+’s Dec. 4 meeting.
The report sent oil prices down, with Global benchmark Brent falling below $85 a barrel for the first time since September on Monday.
Delegates are also sure to keep an eye on consumer China in the run-up to the meeting on December 4th. China saw its first Covid-related deaths in almost six months over the weekend, just as a city of 11 million near the capital asked residents to stay home amid an outbreak, sparking fears of a further wave of restrictions in the world’s biggest oil importer, Bloomberg reports.
As Bloomberg notes, a looming European Union ban on Russian seaborne flows and Group of Seven price-cap plan are clouding the outlook for crude oil in the coming months.
Any output increase would mark a partial reversal of a controversial decision last month to cut production by 2 million barrels a day, causing an uproar in the United States ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
The report of a potential production increase comes just days after the Biden administration told a federal court judge that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should have sovereign immunity.
