OPEC and an allied group of oil-producing countries on Thursday agreed to extend a measured pace of production increases through June. The cartel said in a brief statement that a modest bump next month would support a balanced global market by the end of June.

Specifically, OPEC-plus said it would target a 432,000 b/d increase in June, holding to a gradual pace of escalation launched last August. Since then, the cartel has targeted monthly output bumps of about 400,000 b/d. The Saudi Arabia-led consortium is methodically unwinding nearly 10 million b/d of cuts made in 2020 in response to the initial demand destruction imposed by the pandemic.

The decision, however, comes on the heels of a European Union (EU) proposal on Wednesday to ban Russian crude within six months in protest...