The 23 members of OPEC+ agreed to "adjust the total level of production by 400,000 barrels a day during the month of March", OPEC announced in a statement after the organization's 25th ministerial meeting.
This strategy of gradually increasing production has been renewed month by month, since spring 2021, after the drastic cuts decided at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, when demand dropped significantly and there was a drop in oil prices.
OPEC+ has never deviated from that line, despite calls made in the autumn by the White House for a more expressive increase in supply to calm the rise in prices.
Since the organization's last meeting, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has risen more than 17 percent and that of Brent (benchmark in Europe) has advanced more than 14 percent, with both having reached the same levels in January. highest in the last seven years.
The market is also being driven by strong geopolitical tension involving large production and export countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the latter two due to the conflict in Yemen.
In recent weeks, there has been an increase in tension between Moscow and Western countries due to the strengthening of the Russian military presence along the border with Ukraine.
