Sources say that OPEC+ will not increase oil production in March due to the price spike.

Three OPEC+ delegates said that OPEC+ will likely?keep its planned pause for oil production increases in?March?" when it meets on Sunday. This is even though crude prices have reached six-month highs due to fears the U.S. might launch a strike against OPEC member Iran.

The eight OPEC+ member countries met as Brent crude prices closed at $70 a bar on Friday. This was close to the?six-month peak of $71.89 on Thursday. Despite speculation about a glut of supply in 2026, it is expected that prices will fall.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates along with Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq and Algeria, have all increased their production quotas from April to December 2025 by about 2.9 millions barrels per day, or roughly 3% of world demand.

Then, they froze the?planned increases for January to March 2026 due to a seasonal decline in consumption.

Two sources have confirmed that the meeting on Sunday will begin at 1330 GMT. Sources said that it is unlikely to make any decisions about output policy after March.

OPEC+ is made up of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and its allies. OPEC+ as a whole pumps around half the oil in the world.

Delegates said that a separate OPEC+ group called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee?is also set to meet on Sunday. JMMC has no decision-making power on production policy.

Multiple sources told?on Thursday that U.S. president Donald Trump was weighing his options against Iran, including targeted strikes against security forces and leaders in order to inspire protesters.

Washington has imposed sanctions on Iran to choke its oil revenues, which are a vital source of funding for the state.

Since then, both the U.S. as well as Iran have expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue. However, Tehran said on Friday that its military capabilities should not be considered in any discussions.

The oil prices were also'supported' by the supply disruptions in Kazakhstan. This country has seen a number of disruptions to its oil sector in recent months. Kazakhstan announced on Wednesday that it would restart the massive Tengiz Oilfield in phases. Reporting by Olesya Almakhova in Moscow and Alex Lawler in London. Alex Lawler (Writing, Alexander Smith editing)

(source: Reuters)