The oil-rich consortium of countries known as OPEC-plus on Thursday affirmed its intentions, first signaled earlier in June, to ramp up production in July and August. It is targeting output growth of 648,000 b/d both months. 

If the cartel could meet its goals, the group’s average crude generation would climb to nearly 44 million b/d by August, on par with pre-pandemic levels.

This comes as global demand is mounting along with summer travel, China’s emergence from spring coronavirus lockdowns, and hits to Russian oil output amid its invasion of Ukraine. The International Energy Agency projected that demand would eclipse 100 million b/d this summer – a first since the onset of the pandemic – and hold above that level for the year.

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