[Source: BBC]
The world’s biggest oil producers will hold a crucial meeting on Wednesday to decide how much oil they might add to the market from September.
It follows just weeks after US President, Joe Biden, travelled to Saudi Arabia in a bid to personally convince the country to pump more barrels and help cool soaring prices.
Crude has consistently traded at more than $100 a barrel since February, driving up the cost of living in many countries.
The White House is hoping the 13 core members of the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will decide to boost oil supplies. But that is not a given.
Opec was formed in 1960 as a cartel, with the aim of fixing the worldwide supply of oil and its price.
Saudi Arabia is the biggest single producer in the cartel and after meeting with Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, President Biden said he expects supply to increase.
However, Saudi officials have also stressed any decision to increase supplies would be done in consultation with Opec+.
Opec+ is a wider group of 23 oil-exporting countries including Russia, which meets every month in Vienna to decide how much crude oil to sell on the world market.
