{"id":26001,"date":"2026-02-28T15:53:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=26001"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:53:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:53:27","slug":"opec-to-weigh-bigger-hike-after-iran-strike-delegates-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=26001","title":{"rendered":"OPEC+ to weigh bigger hike after Iran strike, delegates say"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

OPEC+ will consider the option of a larger supply increase when key members meet Sunday after the US and Israel\u00a0launched an attack\u00a0on Iran, according to two delegates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia was\u00a0expected to resume\u00a0modest production increases in April after a three-month supply freeze in an ongoing strategy to reclaim market share, several delegates said earlier this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their base-case was to raise by 137,000 barrels a day, in line with increments during the fourth quarter, three people said. A key factor in Sunday\u2019s decision will be whether the shock US-Israel assault on the Islamic Republic results in a closure of the Persian Gulf\u2019s critical Strait of Hormuz, said another. The delegates asked not to be identified as the deliberations are private.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s attacks, and\u00a0Tehran\u2019s retaliation\u00a0against American military bases in the region, mark the culmination of a geopolitical crisis that has pushed up crude prices this year despite widespread expectations of a surplus. Futures rose to a seven-month high of $73 a barrel in London on Friday, having climbed 19% this year amid an array of output disruptions, sanctions and Chinese stockpiling.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia, along with some other producers, already accelerated oil exports in recent days as America\u2019s deployment of military assets to the Middle East fueled tensions in the region. Last year, Riyadh temporarily ramped up supplies during a previous US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0Saudi Arabia, Iran Drive Up Oil Exports as Mideast Tensions Rise<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Iranians to overthrow their government as the US undertakes \u201cmajor combat operations\u201d against the Islamic Republic and Israel launches \u201cpreventive\u201d airstrikes on targets in the country. Tehran has claimed retaliatory attacks on US military bases in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.<\/p>\n

See our TOPLive Blog: US and Israel Launch Attacks on Iran as Trump Urges Uprising<\/p>\n

The bombardment comes two days after delegations from Iran and the US met in Switzerland for a third\u00a0round of negotiations\u00a0on Tehran\u2019s nuclear activities. While Iran sounded upbeat about the trajectory of the talks, Trump said on Friday he wasn\u2019t happy with how they were unfolding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The vulnerability of regional energy flows became immediately clear again on Saturday, with the Houthis \u2014 a Yemen-based militia with ties to Tehran \u2014 pledging to resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor.<\/p>\n

Further east, traders were also closely monitoring the situation in the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz, a focal point at times of regional unrest because a fifth of the world\u2019s seaborne oil \u2014 and a chunk of gas \u2014 travels through the waterway every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supply Cushion<\/h3>\n

Saudi Arabia holds the bulk of the world\u2019s spare oil production capacity, able to muster an additional 1.8 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. The United Arab Emirates has a contingency plan to deploy at least 1 million barrels a day, a delegate said.<\/p>\n

Among targeted sites in Iran, the country\u2019s semi-official Mehr news agency reported an explosion at Kharg Island, where there\u2019s a key oil export terminal \u2014 though it gave no details. Oil facilities weren\u2019t targeted during the attacks on Iran in June, and Trump has pledged to bring fuel prices down.<\/p>\n

Under the guidance of Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies have often adopted a cautious policy in the face of geopolitical events, opting to see whether they have a material impact before acting.<\/p>\n

The kingdom has suffered the fallout from regional conflicts before, most notably during a 2019 attack on its Abqaiq processing facility \u2014 claimed by Iran\u2019s Houthi allies \u2014 that briefly crippled its output.\u00a0<\/p>\n

OPEC+ didn\u2019t collectively adjust course after last summer\u2019s attacks on Iran, or when the US seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro at the start of this year.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, oil markets have confounded expectations so far in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market was priced on the basis of a \u2018glut\u2019 that is beginning to appear to be mostly fiction,\u201d said Jeff Currie, chief strategy officer of energy pathways at Carlyle Group Inc. \u201cThere is no room for error, which means a lot of room to rally.\u201d<\/p>\n

While global supplies are exceeding demand, a range of disruptions from North America to Kazakhstan and Russia has tempered the excess. Much of the overhang consists of either sanctioned barrels from Russia or Iran \u2014 which are unavailable to the general market \u2014 or else is being scooped up by China for strategic reserves.<\/p>\n

Opening the taps a little more could fit into OPEC+\u2019s long-term objectives. For almost a year, the Saudis and other key members have been engaged in an apparent push to reclaim market share ceded in recent years to rivals such as US shale drillers. They\u2019ve been reviving production halted since 2023 despite warnings that world markets were comfortably supplied.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#OPEC #weigh #bigger #hike #Iran #strike #delegates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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