Oil prices unlikely to rise further, Iraqi oil minister says

MOSCOW: Oil prices, which hit their highest in years recently, are unlikely to rise further, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar told an energy conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies, known as OPEC+, resisted calls to raise output faster and stuck to its plan for a 400,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) increase for November.

That sent crude prices to three-year highs, adding to inflationary pressures globally.

"The market should be balanced," Jabbar said, when asked if OPEC+ should produce more oil than planned. "We think the price won't be higher."

Brent crude was trading at $83 per barrel on Wednesday.

Despite facing calls from big consumers, such as the United States and India for higher output, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Moscow's top negotiator at OPEC+, said on Wednesday that the group was sticking to its announced plan.

"We are acting under an agreed schedule. Consolidated agreement was to add 400,000 bpd," Novak said when asked whether more oil was planned to cool rising prices.

Sources close to OPEC+ told Reuters the group stuck to its original plan partly due to concerns that demand and prices could weaken.