OPEC+ BOOST NOT LIKELY TO EASE HIGH PUMP PRICES
648,000 more barrels per day in August still leaves the world thirsty for oil
The OPEC oil cartel and allied producing nations decided Thursday to boost production of crude by an amount that will likely do little to relieve high gasoline prices at the pump and energy-fueled inflation plaguing the global economy.
The increase of 648,000 barrels per day in August still leaves the world thirsty for oil as it rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic and runs up against the inability of the 23-member OPEC+ alliance to meet its production quotas.
OPEC+, which includes Russia, confirmed the decision from its last meeting. Before that, it had been adding about 432,000 barrels per day monthly to put oil back on the market after cutting production dramatically during the height of the pandemic.
The increase was seen as a gesture
largely by OPEC leader Saudi Araba to U.S. President Joe Biden, who soon afterward planned his first trip to the kingdom as president where oil production is likely to be a topic next month. Biden, facing political pressure at home, has been urging oilproducing countries to open the taps and help bring down gasoline prices for American drivers.
Gasoline prices worldwide have reached painful highs. In the U.S., they surpassed $5 a gallon for the first time this month before dipping in recent days as global oil prices fell on fears of a recession.
Biden has been under pressure to do whatever he can to reduce prices, including urging Congress to suspend gas and diesel taxes and releasing oil from strategic reserves, although many experts say there’s little he can do.
OPEC, on the other hand, could help lower prices by increasing production — in theory. But many oilproducing countries are struggling to produce as much as the group’s decisions set out.
Nigeria and Angola have longstanding shortfalls, while Russia has been losing some of its production because Western customers are shunning its oil, either from fear of sanctions or because they don’t want to be associated with the war in Ukraine.
According to data collected by the International Energy Agency, OPEC+ production fell 2.8 million
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