An agreement is not yet reached, the officials said, and problems with previous compliance by several countries could still prevent an agreement if the group meets online next week to discuss the issue. Recent developments in oil prices are also changing market dynamics, they say, and giving some countries more firepower to advocate for opening taps. Under the agreement, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with Russia and other countries, will increase production by 500,000 barrels per day in January and possibly by a similar amount in the following months. The less than 1 percent increase in the global oil market comes as demand is still under pressure from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. On March 8, 2020, Saudi Arabia launched a price war with Russia, which allows for a 65% quarterly drop in the price of oil. [1] In the first weeks of March, US oil prices fell by 34%, crude oil by 26% and Brent oil by 24%. [2] [3] The price fight was triggered by a breakdown in dialogue between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia over planned oil production cuts amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [1] Russia left the agreement, which led to the fall of the OPEC+ alliance. Oil prices had already fallen by 30% since the beginning of the year due to a drop in demand. [4] The struggle for prices is one of the main causes and effects of the global stock market crash that followed. [5] Oil has seen a big comeback after the historic collapse for the United States. Benchmark prices in a negative price zone in May, with the recovery largely due to a production-cutting agreement reached by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, as well as involuntary production cuts in the United States. Later on April 3, Saudi foreign and energy ministers issued statements criticizing Putin and accusing Russia of not participating in the OPEC+ deal.

[38] Crude oil prices rose on Monday when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies agreed on Saturday to extend their current agreement to cut crude oil production by one month. The latest news about the effectiveness of vaccines in fighting the coronavirus, which has pushed oil prices to their highest level since falling in April, has likely made it harder to reach a deal. . . .