OPEC faces output balancing act over US-Iran crisis

OPEC is on red alert over escalating US-Iran tensions that have fuelled strong oil-price gains — but the cartel and other crude-producing nations are unlikely to end output cuts at a meeting Tuesday, traders say.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel of 14 countries pumping one third of the world’s oil, is acutely aware that a faltering global economy is sapping growth in crude demand, helping to offset fears of potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Ministers from OPEC’s member-nations meet in Vienna on Monday, before gathering a day later for the OPEC+, a group of 24 oil-producing countries that includes major crude supplier Russia.