OPEC+ sticks to modest boost in oil output despite omicron

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ and ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries have decided to maintain the amount of oil they pump to the world. The decision comes even as the new omicron variant casts a shadow of uncertainty over the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Officials from OPEC countries and their allies voted Thursday to stick with a pre-omicron pattern of steady, modest monthly increases in oil releases. That’s a pace that has frustrated the United States and other oil-consuming nations as gasoline prices rise. The OPEC+ alliance approved an increase in production of 400,000 barrels per day for the month of January.