OPEC+ faces calls to cool oil market frenzy with extra barrels

From trading houses in Geneva to Wall Street banks, much of the oil world agrees that global markets could use some more barrels. The big question is whether OPEC+ will provide enough of them.

A crude glut that piled up during the pandemic is vanishing fast. Global inventories are plunging at the steepest rate in two decades, according to Morgan Stanley. Prices have rallied to pre-virus levels, while U.S. production has taken a hit from freezing storms. Talk swirls of market supercycles, and even the return of $100 oil.

With the need for more supply evident, traders expect the OPEC+ coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, will agree to increase production when it meets this week, reversing some of the output cuts made last year.