OPEC and its allies agreed to a small, planned increase in crude production amid soaring oil prices, with concerns over supply heightened due to a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a coalition of Russia-led oil producers said they agreed to raise their collective production by another 400,000 barrels a day in March. The boost is in line with what the cartel, called OPEC+, agreed to last year as part of a plan to raise output to pre-pandemic levels.
Oil prices have surged in recent months to the highest levels in about seven years, fueling inflation around the world, in part because several OPEC+ members have been unable to meet their share of production as global demand has picked up.
In mid-afternoon trading in London, Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 1.1% at $90.16 a barrel, while U.S. crude was 1.2% higher at $89.28.