London (Agencies) The “OPEC Plus” alliance approved an increase in oil production by 100,000 barrels per day, starting from September, which gives the market additional supplies. Ministers from the alliance, which includes members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers led by Russia, backed the proposal for the increase in an online meeting on Wednesday. In July and August, OPEC Plus pledged to add more than 600,000 barrels per day to the market. Oil prices rose to compensate for its losses earlier, driven by the decision of “OPEC Plus”, as the futures contracts for the benchmark Brent crude jumped by regarding three dollars per barrel, and was trading near 102 dollars per barrel. By 11:50 GMT, Brent crude rose 1.3 percent to $ 101.80 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude contracts rose 94 cents, or 1%, to $ 95.36 a barrel. According to the decision of “OPEC Plus” – which includes 23 countries – the new increase is divided proportionally among the members, while there were no discussions regarding continuing to increase production beyond September. By September, OPEC Plus will have ended all of the record production cuts it implemented in 2020 to deal with the collapse in demand caused by the Corona pandemic. Bloomberg agency quoted delegates at the meeting, saying that some countries were reluctant to add more supplies due to the possibility of tightening demand for oil, as a result of recession risks in the United States and Corona closures in China. Three delegates from OPEC Plus told Archyde.com before the meeting that the group had reduced its forecast for the oil market surplus this year by 200,000 barrels per day to 800,000 barrels per day. The OPEC Plus alliance is scheduled to hold its next meeting on September 5.
