Over the weekend: OPEC members want to block production limit hikes

Trouble over the weekend as OPEC members Iran, Venezuela, and Iraq are all saying they will move to block Saudi Arabia's joint move with Russia to increase oil production limits. Russia and Saudi Arabia are intending to propose an increase of 1.5 million bpd to the current OPEC production caps, which were tightened drastically in an effort to stabilize oil prices.

Iran's OPEC representative, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili stated in an interview with Bloomberg: "Three OPEC founders are going to stop it. If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia want to increase production, this requires unanimity. If the two want to act alone, that's a breach of the cooperation agreement."

Iraq's Oil Minister, Jabbar Al-Luaibi stated in an interview of his own with Reuters, "a production increase is not on the table as the market is stable and prices are good."