Oil prices have fallen sharply after Opec+ agreed to increase output following pressure from US President Donald Trump.
Brent crude dropped as much as 2.8% on Monday to $71.17 a barrel after the oil cartel, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, unexpectedly said it would increase production from April, initially by 138,000 barrels a day.
Last month, President Trump used a speech to the World Economic Forum to urge Saudi Arabia and other members to “bring down the cost of oil”, linking it to the war in Ukraine.
He said: “Right now the price is high enough that that war will continue. You gotta bring down the oil price. That will end that war. You could end that war.”
A plan to increase output had been delayed by more than two years but Opec+ said it would now stage increases in output, hitting an extra 2.2m barrels a day by 2026.
In a statement the group said: “This gradual increase may be paused or reversed subject to market conditions”, adding: “This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability."
The Telegraph says the agreement of Opec+ also comes after Mr Trump showed a more favourable poise towards Russia, a key member of the broader coalition.
Mr Trump has vowed to ramp up the US’s oil and gas production, but economists have suggested that Mr Trump’s policies on oil are contradictory, with lower oil prices undermining his attempt to encourage production at home.