OPEC oil alliance in standoff between Saudi Arabia and UAE

The OPEC oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia and other allied producing countries resumed talks on Monday amid a standoff with the United Arab Emirates over how much to raise production levels with demand still hampered by threats from new variants of the coronavirus.

The UAE on Sunday pushed back against a plan by the OPEC+ group, which includes non-OPEC producers like Russia, to extend a pact to cut oil production beyond April 2022.

There are concerns that if an agreement among the 23 member-states cannot be reached, the alliance could break apart, triggering a price war and huge swings in global oil prices at a time of uncertainty over future demand for oil due to continued lockdowns in parts of the world and the uneven distribution of vaccines worldwide.