OPEC, allies keep gradually pumping more oil amid omicron

Published January 4, 2022 4:34 AM

By DAVID McHUGH
AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries have decided to pump more oil to the world economy amid hope that travel and demand for fuel will hold up despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19. The 23-member OPEC+ alliance led by oil cartel member Saudi Arabia and non-member Russia said Tuesday that it would add 400,000 barrels per day in February, sticking with a road map to slowly restore cuts in output made during the depths of the pandemic. Oil prices rose with the news. The production increases are gradually restoring deep reductions made in 2020, when demand for motor and aviation fuel plummeted because of pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions.