Mubasher: Oil prices climbed on early Friday, driven by uncertainty as to whether members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would agree on boosting production at their meeting later in the day.

Brent crude futures traded at $74.02 per barrel (pb), 1.3% higher than their last session, while US Nymex futures gained 1.3% also to $66.37 pb from their last close.

OPEC members are meeting later in the day with their non-OPEC allies, including major crude producer Russia, in the organisation’s headquarters in Vienna to discuss the production policy over the next months.

While Saudi Arabia, OPEC de facto leader, and Russia are in favour of ramping up oil supply, another members at the organisation, including Iran and Iraq oppose the increase.

Not all members are likely to share the same stance on a Saudi-led proposal to raise oil production by 1 million barrels per day (bpd), a delegate from the organisation told Thomson Reuters ahead of the meeting.

However, the scheduled meeting would result in an increase ranging from 450,000 to 750,000 bpd, mostly supported by non-OPEC Russia and Gulf OPEC members Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, Jefferies bank told the news agency.

The likely increase “would essentially offset Venezuelan declines and falling Iranian exports,” the US investment bank added, warning that the global “spare capacity could fall globally to around 2% of demand, [hitting] its lowest level since at least 1984.”

Another uncertainty is fuelled by the possible tariffs on American crude imports that China may levy, in an escalating tit-for-tat trade dispute between the US on one side, and the world’s second largest economy, along with the European Union (EU) and India on the other.

“If China’s import demand dries up, more than 300,000 bpd of US crude will have to find a new destination,” energy consultancy FGE told Reuters.

By 7:35 am GMT, Brent went up 1.49% to $74.14 pb, while Nymex rose 1.33% to $66.41 pb.