By David Uberti

OPEC+ just blinked after its long standoff with middling oil prices.

The Saudi- and Russia-led group said Monday that it would begin a long-delayed plan to ramp up production, ending a more than 18-month attempt to prop up prices at the expense of market share.

Eight member countries are set to bring back 2.2 million barrels a day of curtailed production. Starting next month and extending through Sept. 2026, "this gradual increase may be paused or reversed subject to market conditions," the group said in a statement.

Benchmark U.S. crude futures fell by about 2% following the announcement, trading as low as $67.89 a barrel, their lowest intraday value of the year.

Some traders had expected OPEC+ to continue pushing back output hikes in the face of an uncertain demand outlook in China, as well as continued supply growth in the U.S. and elsewhere. President Trump in January urged the group to open the spigots.

That could present tradeoffs should prices tilt lower. Cheaper oil could hurt higher-cost American shale drillers, making it less likely that they will ramp up output according to Trump's "drill, baby, drill" mantra. At the same time, cheaper crude could help push down U.S. prices at the pump.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in January, Trump said that he would "demand" that interest rates drop once oil prices receded. On Friday, 10-year Treasury yields wavered following news of the OPEC+ plan.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2025 14:35 ET (19:35 GMT)

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