OPEC+ boosts oil production after Mideast attacks

Eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced Sunday that they will boost production of crude as U.S. and Israeli forces launched a major attack on Iran and the country responded with retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S. military installations around the Persian Gulf, disrupting oil shipments from the region.

- BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a Sunday meeting planned before the war began, said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels per day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting. The countries boosting output are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.

Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, could restrict countries' ability to export oil to the rest of the world. That probably would result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts.