OPEC, allies set to raise limits on oil production for 5 nations

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — OPEC and allied nations agreed Sunday to raise the production limits imposed on five countries next year and boost their production by two million barrels per day by the end of this year, ending a dispute that roiled oil markets.

The disagreement, sparked by a demand by the United Arab Emirates to increase its own production, temporarily upended an earlier meeting of the cartel.

In a statement Sunday, the cartel announced that Iraq, Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE would see their limits rise.

“What bonds us together is way much beyond what you may imagine,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said. “We differ here and there, but we bond.”

Prince Abdulaziz declined to elaborate on how they came to that consensus, saying it would see the cartel “lose our advantage of being mysterious and clever.” But he clearly bristled at earlier reports on the dispute between Saudi Arabia, long the heavyweight of the Viennabased cartel, and the UAE.

Outside of OPEC, however, tensions still remain between the neighbouring nations.

The UAE largely has withdrawn from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, while also diplomatically recognizing Israel. Saudi Arabia also has opened its doors to Qatar again after a years-long boycott, though relations remain icy between Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Saudi Arabia also has aggressively sought international business headquarters — something that could affect the UAE’s business hub Dubai.