OPEC+ will consider the option of a larger supply increase when key members meet on Sunday, after Israel launched airstrikes on targets in Iran, according to a delegate.
The group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia was expected to resume modest production increases from April after a three month supply freeze, several delegates said earlier this week. In the fourth quarter, they had added monthly increments of 137,000 barrels a day.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday the US is undertaking a “massive” operation against Iran to stop it getting a nuclear weapon, shortly after Israel launched “preventive” airstrikes on targets in the Islamic Republic — moves that will spark fears of a wider conflict in the oil-rich region. Oil prices climbed to a seven-month high of $73 a barrel in London on Friday as concerns over a potential attack helped offset signs of global oversupply.
In recent days, Riyadh and some other producers — including Iran — accelerated oil exports. Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, temporarily surged supply last year amid the US bombardment of Iranian nuclear facilities.
The latest attack came two days after delegations from the Islamic Republic and US met in Switzerland for a third round of negotiations on Iran's nuclear activities. While Iran sounded upbeat about the trajectory of the talks, US Trump said on Friday he wasn't happy with how they were unfolding.
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