OPEC+ will delay oil output hike at meeting, source says

LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – OPEC+ will delay its plan to raise oil output, currently set to start in January, when it meets online later on Thursday, an OPEC+ source told Reuters, to provide additional support for the oil market.

OPEC+, which pumps about half the world’s oil, was planning to begin unwinding output cuts through 2025. However, a slowdown in global demand and rising output outside the group pose hurdles to that plan and have weighed on prices.

Several OPEC+ sources have told Reuters an extension of the output cuts for three months is the most likely outcome, while others have said a longer period is possible. All of the sources declined to be identified by name.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Olesya Astakhova, Vladimir Soldatkin and Ahmad Ghaddar; editing by Susan Fenton)