(Bloomberg) -- OPEC and its allies once again stood back from the crisis engulfing oil markets, refusing to deviate from their schedule of gradual production increases as the U.S. considered an unprecedented release from emergency crude stockpiles.
The cartel ratified the 432,000 barrel-a-day supply increase scheduled for May at an online meeting on Thursday, delegates said. The decision was in line with expectations and very much peripheral to the main driver of prices on the market -- President Joe Biden’s plan to release about 1 million barrels a day from crude reserves for several months to ease the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 5.6% at $107.05 as of 1:05 p.m. in London.
Consumers are taking matters into their own hands because the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are resisting being drawn into the political crisis caused by the military aggression of one of their leading members.
OPEC+ hurried through its last meeting in just 13 minutes, without discussing the issue that was dominating global commodities markets. It beat that record by a minute at Thursday’s talks, a delegate said.
One change that could emerge from the gathering is the decision to exclude from OPEC’s crude-production estimates any data provided by the International Energy Agency. It’s a minor technical change intended mainly as a public snub to the agency that represents the interests of oil consumers and plays a key role in coordinating releases from emergency stocks.
Ministers will discuss the proposal later on Thursday, a delegate said.
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