SINGAPORE: Middle East crude benchmarks were mixed on Monday, with Oman edging higher while Dubai slipped ahead of a meeting by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries this week.

OPEC and allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, expect the impact on the oil market from the Omicron coronavirus variant to be mild and temporary, keeping the door open for a further increase in output, a technical report seen by Reuters showed on Sunday.

Three sources from the producer group told Reuters on Monday OPEC+ are expected to go ahead with a planned 400,000 bpd production increase.

The OPEC members will meet on Monday at 1300 GMT to discuss the appointment of a new secretary general to succeed Nigeria’s Mohammad Barkindo, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

This will be followed by a meeting of OPEC+ on Tuesday to debate whether to go ahead with raising output targets by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February.

Cash Dubai’s premium jumped 77 cents from the previous session to $1.48 a barrel on Monday, its highest in over two weeks.