The OPEC + countries meet in Vienna on Wednesday to discuss their oil production strategy, under the gaze of Joe Biden who recently courted Saudi Arabia to try to stem the surge in prices.

So far, the Riyadh-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Moscow-led allies have resisted calls to open the floodgates further to stem inflation fueled by energy prices .

Month after month, the 23 members stuck to marginal openings of their floodgates.

But the current deal is coming to an end: On paper, they are back to pre-pandemic production levels.