Image Gazprom Neft’s oil refinery in Omsk, Russia. Officials from OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing countries met on Thursday to discuss oil production in January.Credit…Alexey Malgavko/ReutersWhen officials from OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing countries met by video conference on Thursday, they had a lot to worry about. The biggest concerns were whether the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus might torpedo the budding global economic recovery, and the restiveness of the United States and key Asian customers, including China, over high oil prices.In the end, the group known as OPEC Plus decided to take the easy route and stick with a previously agreed to program of gradually adding oil to the market. They decided to raise production by 400,000 barrels a day in January, just as they have in recent months. But to show worried oil markets that they are ready to change that plan if needed, the producers said in a news release that their meeting would “remain in session” so the producers could monitor the market and “make immediate adjustments if required.”Prices dipped sharply as it emerged that OPEC Plus would raise production. But they recovered quickly, and later in the day futures were trading 1.7 percent higher, at about $70.10 a barrel for Brent crude, the international benchmark.Though many analysts predicted the group might pause the monthly increases it agreed on in July, or even cut output, others said the decision taken on Thursday made sense.In recent months, strong demand for oil and the producers’ restraint on output has drained stockpiles to low levels.And analysts pointed out that future demand is probably holding up. “Middle East OPEC members will likely have seen good demand for their crude in January,” analysts from FGE, a consulting firm, said in a report on Thursday, as Asian economies powered ahead.Given the unknowns about what impact the Omicron variant will have, producers appear to have decided to wait and find out rather than make a move that might have sent an unwitting negative signal to the markets.What’s more, under the schedule put in effect during the pandemic, OPEC Plus always has a meeting coming up during which changes can be made. The next scheduled gathering is on Jan. 4.Maintaining the planned increase will probably ease friction with the Biden administration, which last month orchestrated a release of oil stocks from the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve in conjunction with smaller moves by other large oil consumers. Read moreTreasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen testified on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.Credit…Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesWASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Thursday said she believed it was time to retire the term “transitory” to characterize inflation as temporary and sugge …
