The world’s major oil-producing countries are under pressure from the US, China and Russia to pump more crude and bring down oil prices.
But Opec’s crunch meeting in Vienna on Friday finds the oil cartel divided after nearly two years of unity over production curbs, which were due to run until the year’s end.
Saudi Arabia and Russia are leading the push to boost supplies; Iran, Iraq and Venezuela are opposed to a significant increase. Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday that increasing production by 1m barrels a day “sounds like a good target to work with”.
Here are five charts that explain why Vienna will be fractious and, as RBC Global Asset Management said, “a tricky one to predict”.
Since Opec and Russia agreed in late 2016 to curb production in a bid to rebalance world supply and demand, crude prices have jumped 55%.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, recently hit highs of $80 (£60) a barrel, raising inflation fears and concerns it could act as a brake on world economies. Prices have since fallen back slightly, to around $74, on market expectation that the Opec meeting will agree a rise in crude production.
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