- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
OPEC backs bigger output boost amid Russian isolation
Major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia on Thursday decided to open taps wider than expected amid soaring prices and hard on the heels of an EU ban on Russian oil imports.
Analysts had expected OPEC+ producers to stick to their policy modest output increases, as they have done since May 2021.
However, pressure has been rising for the 23-strong cartel to boost output and seek to stabilise prices, which have hit record highs since Russia invaded Ukraine, drawing heavy Western sanctions.
"The meeting highlighted the importance of stable and balanced markets for both crude oil and refined products," the group said in a statement, adding that they will add 648,000 barrels per day to the market in July, up from 432,000 in previous months.
Ahead of the meeting speculation had swirled about a break in the agreement between the 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, chaired by Saudi Arabia, and their 10 partners, led by Russia.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that OPEC was considering suspending Russia from the output deal.
Oil prices sank more than two percent early Thursday on a similar Financial Times report that said Saudi Arabia was considering a plan to boost output as Russia struggles to meet targets owing to Ukraine war-linked sanctions.
OPEC+ drastically slashed output in 2020 as demand slumped when the world locked down under the coronavirus pandemic.
They have increased output modestly to the tune of around 400,000 barrels per day each month since last year, resisting pressure by top consumers, including the United States, to open the taps wider, until now.
- Russia a 'pariah' -
Talks by videoconference began at the technical level around 1225 GMT coordinated by the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, before moving into a short plenary session to approve the recommendation.
Ahead of the meeting, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates could fill some of the gap as Russia is hit by Western oil sanctions.
"The quota system doesn't make sense when Russia is held back from increasing its production due to the fresh European sanctions," she said.
European Union leaders agreed on Monday to ban more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports as part of a sixth package of sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war.
Britain has already announced plans to phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 and eventually stop importing its gas.
The United States, too, banned Russian oil and gas days after Russia's invasion began on February 24.
"Russia has now transformed into a pariah," Seb analyst Bjarne Schieldrop commented ahead of the meeting.
"Apparent elevated US-Saudi shuttle diplomacy lately may indicate that change in OPEC+ may be near," he predicted.
"More oil from Saudi and the UAE will allow the West to implement sharper bans forcing Russian oil exports lower while not blowing up the oil price," Schieldrop added.
- 'Key role' -
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated concerns about oil supplies, sending prices to record highs this year.
As the economic screws have tightened around Russia, prices have further soared, putting pressure on the cartel to open the valves more widely and relieve the market.
Members of the G7 club of industrialised nations last week underlined OPEC+'s "key role" in the face of the tightening of international markets.
Soaring oil prices have stimulated the Gulf region's economies, with Saudi Arabia recording its highest growth rate in 10 years over the first quarter of 2022.
burs-jza/bp
V.F.Barreira--PC