OPEC sticks to production plan as high oil prices boost economies

OPEC and its allies stuck to a small, planned increase in oil production on Thursday, as windfall revenue from high crude prices boosts the economies of Saudi Arabia and other producers while providing a buffer to Russia against Western sanctions.

In its third meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine, sending oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time in eight years, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a coalition of Moscow-led oil producers said they agreed to continue raising their collective production by 432,000 barrels a day.

The incremental boost for June is in line with what the cartel, called OPEC+, agreed to last year as part of a plan to raise output to prepandemic levels. It comes despite repeated calls in recent months from the U.S. and other major oil-consuming nations for Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members to tap into the group’s millions of barrels of remaining capacity to pump more oil to help tame prices.