A senior official in the administration of US President Joe Biden said - today, Wednesday - that the decision of the members of the "OPEC Plus" alliance to increase oil production by 100,000 barrels per day is a "step forward."
The official added that Biden wants to see more, and that he will push at home and abroad to increase energy supplies.
The "OPEC Plus" alliance agreed at today's meeting to increase production by only 100,000 barrels per day, starting from the first of next September, compared to about 432,000 and then an additional 648,000 barrels in the previous two months.
The United States had hoped to significantly increase the supply of oil to bring down prices.
The coalition ministers supported the proposal for the slight increase in an online meeting, and the "OPEC Plus" alliance pledged in July and August to add more than 600,000 barrels per day to the market.
The United States has asked the organization several times to increase production, but spare capacity is limited, and Saudi Arabia may be reluctant to increase production at the expense of Russia's partner in "OPEC Plus", which has been subjected to sanctions due to the conflict in Ukraine.
And “Bloomberg” agency quoted delegates at the meeting as saying that some countries were hesitant about adding more supplies to the possibility of narrowing demand for oil, as a result of the risks of recession in the United States and the closures of Corona in China.
The "OPEC Plus" alliance also expressed its concern about the insufficient investments in the exploration sector, and said that insufficient investments would affect the availability of sufficient oil supply to meet the growing demand beyond 2023, noting that the limited excess capacity for oil production requires it to be used with extreme caution.
The United States has asked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two leading members of OPEC, to pump more oil.
US and Western sanctions on Russia have sent energy prices up in all its forms, pushed inflation to its highest levels in decades and sent central banks sharply higher interest rates.
"OPEC" has increased production in line with its goals, by about 430,000 barrels and 650,000 barrels per day in recent months, and has refused to switch to faster increases in production.
Sources in the group indicated the lack of additional production capacity among the members to add more production, as well as the need for more cooperation with Russia within the framework of the broader "OPEC Plus" group.
"The recovery in demand is continuing, but it may be at a slower pace than at the beginning of the year and last year," said Haitham Al-Ghais, Secretary-General of OPEC, in statements to Algerian television.
He added that challenges in the supply of shale oil in the United States "affected the balance of supply and demand."
Wednesday's meeting discussed production policies since September and possibly beyond.
By September, the "OPEC Plus" group will have finished all the record production cuts it implemented in 2020 to deal with the collapse in demand caused by the Corona pandemic.
In June, the production of "OPEC Plus" members was 3 million barrels per day less than their quotas, as sanctions imposed on some members and low investment in some of them curbed their ability to calm the energy crisis in the world.
Only Saudi Arabia and the UAE are believed to have some additional capacity to increase production.