Reuters was first to report that OPEC and its allies (OPEC+) had agreed to increase oil output in January. Benchmark Brent oil prices fell $2 per barrel after the news, which ended uncertainty in the market over whether oil producers might halt their monthly supply increases due to concern about the impact of the new Omicron coronavirus variant on demand and a pending release of oil by the U.S. and other major consuming nations from strategic stocks. Earlier in the day, Reuters was alone in reporting that sentiment among ministers representing the world’s top oil producers was to increase production, rather than to hold it steady. Brent fell after that news by nearly $1 a barrel. The last meeting of the year for OPEC was significant, as the group was under pressure from the United States to raise production to help soften high gasoline prices, which have hurt the popularity of President Joe Biden.
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