VIENNA: Major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia stuck to a previously decided output boost on Thursday, despite calls for bigger increases to tame crude prices.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated concerns about oil supplies, sending prices to record highs this year.

Oil prices fell following the announcement by the 13-nation Organi­zation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudia Arabia and its 10 partners headed by Russia.

In their monthly video conference, which lasted about an hour, the 23 members of Opec+ agreed to add another 648,000 barrels per day in August, the same as for July.

“As expected, Opec+ stuck to its planned 648,000 barrel increase in August and refrained from any decision beyond then,” said Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at OANDA trading platform.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2022