OPEC, Russia agree to nudge up oil output gradually from Jan

OPEC and a group of allied countries including Russia have agreed to increase their oil production by 500,000 barrels per day from January

Oil Markets (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

OPEC and a group of allied countries including Russia have agreed to increase their oil production by 500,000 barrels per day from January.

Alexander Novak, deputy prime minister of Russia, announced the decision on Thursday after long talks as oil producing countries weighed the outlook for energy demand amid the pandemic.

Oil producing countries face a difficult situation. The pandemic has sapped demand for fuel across the economy, which induced them to cut back production this year to keep prices from sagging even more than they have. Yet the lower production means less revenue for governments that depend on oil sales to fill state coffers.

And the outlook for demand is mixed across the globe; economies in the U.S. and Europe have been disrupted by a second upsurge in coronavirus infections, while activity and travel in China have rebounded more strongly.