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OPEC has resisted calls by the United States and the
International Energy Agency to pump more crude to cool prices
which reached a 14-year peak last month after Washington and
Brussels imposed sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of
Ukraine.
OPEC+, which consists of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries and other producers, including Russia, will raise
output by about 432,000 barrels per day in May.
The EU-OPEC meeting on Monday afternoon is the latest in a
dialogue launched between the two sides in 2005.
Russian oil has been excluded from EU sanctions so far. But
after the 27-country bloc agreed last week to sanction Russian
coal - its first to target energy supplies - some senior EU
officials said oil could be next.
The European Commission is drafting proposals for an oil embargo
on Russia, the foreign ministers of Ireland, Lithuania and the
Netherlands said on Monday, as they arrived for a meeting with
their EU counterparts in Luxembourg.
Australia, Canada and the United States, who are less reliant on
Russian supply than Europe, have already banned Russian oil
purchases.
EU countries are split over whether to follow suit, given their
higher dependency and the potential for the move to push up
already high energy prices in Europe.
The EU expects its oil use to decrease 30% by 2030, from 2015
levels, under its planned policies to fight climate change -
though in the short term, an embargo would trigger a dash to
replace Russian oil with alternative supplies.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Mike Harrison)
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