Contrary to the wishes of consumer nations, the oil production alliance Opec + is sticking to its cautious production targets.

The group dominated by Saudi Arabia and Russia decided in an online meeting on Thursday to continue their gradual increase in daily oil production of an additional 400,000 barrels (159 liters) as planned in December.

Large industrial nations such as the USA, Japan and India had asked Opec + to pump more oil into the market than planned.

The increased oil and gas prices are the result of a restrictive production policy, said US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Oil has been trading over $ 80 since the beginning of October.

While consumer countries are pushing for lower prices and higher supply to recover from the corona shock of the global economy, Opec + is keeping an eye on the risks of the pandemic for energy consumption.

In view of the expected continuation of the cautious production policy, industrialized nations still have the option of tapping their own oil reserves.

US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm brought this option into play for her country in October.

Opec + consists of the 13 countries of the Vienna-based Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and ten cooperation partners such as Russia and Kazakhstan.

At the beginning of the Corona crisis, Allianz responded to the slump in demand with production cuts.