The OPEC+ group, composed of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers, decided on Wednesday a mild increase in production, despite the recent visit of the US President, Joe Biden, to Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to convince the OPEC leader to pump more oil and help the world economy, AFP and Reuters report.

Meeting in Vienna, the representatives of the 13 member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the 10 allied states, gathered under the umbrella of OPEC+, agreed “to increase their production by 100,000 barrels per day in September,” states a press release published at the end of the meeting.

This increase, equivalent to the world’s demand for oil for 86 seconds, comes after weeks of speculation that Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the authorization of the sale of missile systems to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will allow for an increase in oil supply on the market, according to Agerpres.

“It is such a small increase that it is insignificant. From a physical point of view, it is a marginal boost. As a political gesture, it is almost insulting,” says Raad Alkadiri, director at Eurasia Group.

Comparatively, at the June meeting, the OPEC+ alliance decided to increase production by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August. Before that, OPEC+ raised output by 432,000 barrels per day on a monthly basis in line with its plan to bring output back to pre-pandemic levels.

The US and other major Western oil-consuming nations have called on the OPEC+ alliance, which is responsible for nearly half of the world’s oil production, to pump more crude into the market to help lower prices, which have been boosted by rebounding demand and the Russian invasion from Ukraine.

However, OPEC delegates argue that the alliance needs more time to assess a possible slowdown in global energy demand before significantly increasing oil production. Officials in Saudi Arabia tried to calm expectations, reiterating that OPEC’s de facto leader will do whatever it takes to balance the market if there is a supply shortfall.