According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited OPEC delegates, some OPEC nations are considering suspending Russia from the OPEC+ accord, which caps the amount of crude oil each member may produce.

Suspending Russia’s membership in the organisation might allow other members to ramp up oil output more quickly, albeit only a few OPEC nations are thought to have the capacity to do so as swiftly as the existing agreement allows.

Removing Russia from the group might be a long-term or symbolic step, as much of the rest of the globe continues to reject Russian energy products, except for China and India, which have expanded their purchases of Russian oil. This significant shunning has resulted in a drop in Russian crude oil production this year by nearly 8%, according to WSJ figures, rather than the OPEC+ agreement’s monthly gain.

The US and others have pleaded with OPEC, notably Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to increase oil output to cut high crude and gasoline prices, but their requests have thus far been rejected. However, the White House was reported earlier this month to be scouting Saudi Arabia for a prospective meeting between President Joe Biden and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, ostensibly to discuss oil output.

OPEC has long claimed that the crude oil market is generally balanced and that increasing crude production will not affect the market’s existing pressures. However, according to OPEC delegates speaking to the Wall Street Journal, several OPEC countries in the Persian Gulf are beginning to plan for increased output in the coming months. Although the agreement is supposed to last until December, the OPEC+ output quotas will be rolled back by September.