OPEC and its allies agree to keep pumping more oil

The group of producers comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia has raised its output target each month since August by 400,000 barrels per day.The Rystad Energy’s analyst Bjornar Tonhaugen said OPEC+ has grown confident in part because real-time transportation data globally suggests Omicron has not yet had any significant impact on oil demand.”Ongoing (oil production) outages in Libya, struggling production recovery in Nigeria, and reduced expectations for Russian production capacity add bullish weight to the scale from the supply side,” he added.While OPEC+ has increased its output target each month, actual production has lagged as some members struggle with capacity constraints.OPEC+ producers missed their targets by 730,000 barrels per day in October and by 650,000 barrels per day in November, the International Energy Agency said last month.OPEC+ will hold its next meeting on Feb. 2.