BY Wasilat Azeez
Crude oil prices continued an upward trend on Monday ahead of another meeting of OPEC+ — consisting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies — where producers are expected to agree to a gradual production increase.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading at $76.44 per barrel at 12pm on Monday with a 0.34 percent increase.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also went up by 0.39 percent to $75.45.
On Thursday, members of OPEC+ had reportedly been expected to agree to a deal backed by Saudi Arabia and Russia that would further unwind previously agreed output curbs by allowing production to rise by 400,000 barrels per day every month from August to December — putting an additional 2 million barrels per day of crude into the market over the remainder of 2021.
The deal would also extend the duration of broader cuts that the group agreed to in 2021.
However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) objected to the plan.
Reports said the UAE “unconditionally” supports an increase in production. But the country said the extension should be conditional on revising the so-called baseline, which determines how much a country is allowed to pump.
The UAE wants its baseline to be revised before extending those cuts till end of 2022, because it wants to produce more than it is now allowed based on the quota of its current baseline.
All OPEC+ agreements require unanimous approval.
The meeting was postponed to Friday but members failed to reach an agreement on its output policy.
OPEC+ will meet again today to discuss the issue.
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