Sources say that OPEC+ is leaning toward another small increase in oil production.

Four sources familiar with the discussions said that eight OPEC+ countries are likely to increase oil production modestly for December at their meeting on Sunday, as Saudi Arabia tries to regain market share.

OPEC+ increased its monthly production targets by a combined total of 2.7 million barrels a day - about 2.5% global supply – in a series since April. This is less than half of the cumulative supply cuts the group agreed to in previous years, which totalled 5.85 million barrels per day.

Two of the sources indicated that the group would likely agree on Sunday to raise the December output target by another 137,000 Bpd. The other two sources did not provide an estimate. Two of the four sources refused to identify themselves by name.

Recently, the producer group decided to increase targets for November by 137,000 bpd.

On Oct. 20, additional supply from OPEC+ pushed oil prices down to a 5-month low, on fears that a glut would build. Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed new sanctions against Russia's largest oil companies, which boosted the price of oil above $66 per barrel. This eased investor concerns about a glut.

The group found it more difficult to agree on the latest monthly increase because sanctions make it difficult for Russia find buyers for any additional output.

Over the years, Russia and Saudi Arabia - the two largest OPEC+ producers - have sometimes disagreed about the size of the output increases, but eventually found a compromise.

OPEC, Alexander Novak's office, and the Saudi Arabian government media office didn't immediately respond to comments. (Additional reporting and editing by Maha El-Dahan, Simon Webb, Conor Humphries, Alex Lawler)

(source: Reuters)