LONDON — Major oil producers are expected to continue their planned moderate increases in production on Thursday despite pressures to further increase production amid soaring prices. The 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their 10 allies are meeting from 13:00 GMT for their regular monthly meeting via video conference and are expected to reconfirm their July decision. Powerful producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia in the so-called OPEC + group agreed in July to modestly increase production after sharply cutting it last year as the pandemic hit global markets. “While there is a lot of pressure on OPEC + to increase production more aggressively, members continue to resist and instead seem to prefer sticking to their plan to ease cuts to 400,000 barrels per day. and per month, ”ING analysts said in a note this week. With benchmark WTI contract prices hitting $ 85, the highest since 2014, US President Joe Biden called on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome this weekend for OPEC to pump more. “The idea that Russia and Saudi Arabia and other big producers aren’t going to pump more oil so people can have gasoline to get to work, for example, is not fair.” , did he declare. Other oil-consuming countries, such as India and Japan, have also called for more production to bring prices down. Helima Croft of RBC Capital Markets said she would not rule out that Saudi Arabia could give the green light to an increase beyond 400,000 barrels per day “given the intensity of the pressure from the House Blanche and other key consumer countries like India “. OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo last week reiterated “the need to remain cautious and attentive to a constantly changing market situation,” according to a statement. As the higher prices benefit producers in the form of increased incomes, especially after the lean season of the coronavirus pandemic, there are concerns that they may stifle the fragile economic recovery and therefore demand for oil. . There have also been recently question marks over the ability of OPEC + members to significantly increase production. Contrary to the normal tendency for OPEC countries to exceed their production quotas, in recent months most Member States have either adhered to or in some cases failed to do so. This suggests that the group may not be able to quickly ramp up production in the short term despite a current theoretical reserve of over four million bpd in soil. Another uncertainty is that Iran, a member of OPEC, has been excluded from the market because of US sanctions, which the Islamic Republic hopes to see lifted thanks to negotiations in Vienna on the reduction of its nuclear program. However, these negotiations have been deadlocked since June and are not expected to resume until the end of the month.