(Ecofin Agency) - Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs has said that the oil production from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members, is to increase in 2016 and 2017 as the group will fail to arrive at a decision to cut or freeze production.

According to the bank, OPEC’s production will increase by 600,000 bpd this year and 500,000 bpd in 2017, Business Times reports.

“While recent commentary calls into question the likelihood of a successful production freeze at a planned OPEC April 17 meeting, we have been less willing to believe in a sustained OPEC production freeze or cut, so we do not regard the data as a departure from our outlook at present,” it said.

Oil prices rose on Friday, driven by new hopes over a proposed freeze in oil production.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $38.59 per barrel, 3% higher than their last close while International Brent futures increased by $1.30 at $40.73 a barrel.

“You have declining supply in the United States and a declining rig rate. You mix that with outages in Nigeria ... and put Doha on top of it, and your eyes are looking towards the tightening of the market,” Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst with SEB Bank in Oslo said.

Meanwhile, Iran has revealed plans to increase oil production in the 2017 by an amount approximately equivalent to the overall production capacity of Qatar. The country is targeting the plan as OPEC members are making preparations to meet with other major producers including Russia in Doha on April 17 to discuss an output freeze to ease a oil oversupply globally.

Anita Fatunji