OPEC+ maintains modest monthly increases in oil output

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and CATHY BUSSEWITZ
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries have decided to maintain the amount of oil they pump to the world even as the new omicron variant casts a spikey shadow of uncertainty over the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Officials from OPEC countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and their allies, led by Russia, voted Thursday to stick with a pre-omicron pattern of steady, modest monthly increases in oil releases — 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 at a meeting.