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OPEC+ already planning to raise output in April

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Oil prices have risen this year

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Saudi minister says Riyadh, OPEC position is long-term oil

market stability

By Alex Lawler, Ahmad Ghaddar, Yousef Saba

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - OPEC+ has yet to react to a

call from U.S. President Donald Trump for lower oil prices, with

delegates from the group pointing to a plan already in place to

start raising oil output from April.

Trump on Thursday announced he would be asking Saudi Arabia and

the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to bring

down the cost of oil - a call he often made in his first term in

the White House.

Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos on

Friday, Saudi Arabia's Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim said

Saudi Arabia and OPEC's position is for long-term oil market

stability, when asked about Trump's comments.

OPEC+, or OPEC, Russia and other allies as the group is

known, does not target oil prices and already has a plan to

begin raising output from April 2025, having delayed the hike

several times due to weak demand.

"I think this is already in line with OPEC's easing policy

in April," one delegate from the group said with reference to

the U.S. president's comments.

OPEC and the Saudi government communications office did not

immediately reply to a request for comment.

Oil prices have risen this year, with Brent crude reaching

almost $83 a barrel on Jan. 15, the highest since August,

supported by concern about the supply impact of U.S. sanctions

on Russia. Prices have since eased to below $79 on Friday.

Trump also said that if prices came down, the Russia-Ukraine war

would end immediately. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, reacting

to those comments on Friday, said the conflict is about national

security, not oil.

In his first term, Trump often urged OPEC and Saudi Arabia

to lower prices and make up for a shortfall in exports from

Iran, with his comments on OPEC sometimes having a bigger impact

on prices than OPEC's own.

OPEC+ has a chance to review its policy when a panel of top

ministers called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee

meets on Feb. 3.

Based on OPEC+ previous practice, a decision to go ahead

with the April hike is expected around early March.