LONDON: OPEC+ will likely stick to plans for a moderate rise in its oil output target when it meets on Wednesday, sources from the group said, despite pressure from top consumers for more supply after crude prices hit seven-year highs.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+ which produces more than 40% of global oil supply, has faced calls from the United States, India and others to pump more oil as economies recover from the pandemic.

But OPEC+ has stuck to monthly increases of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to its target and blamed surging prices on the failure of consuming nations to ensure adequate investment in fossil fuels as they shift to greener energy.

Yet several OPEC members have struggled to meet even those monthly output increases.

Three OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Wednesday the plan to raise the target by 400,000 bpd for March was unlikely to change when the full group meets online at 1300 GMT.

"No more than 400,000 bpd," one of them said, when asked if OPEC+ could discuss a higher figure.

Formal talks begin at 1200 GMT with a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which can make a recommendation to the full OPEC+.

Brent crude was trading above $89 a barrel on Wednesday and touched a seven-year high of $91.70 last week, amid tensions in Europe and the Middle East.

Goldman Sachs said there was a chance of a faster OPEC+ ramp-up given the pace of the market's rally.

A report prepared for the meeting by OPEC+ experts and seen by Reuters kept the 2022 forecast for world oil demand growth unchanged at 4.2 million bpd, and said demand would hit pre-pandemic levels in the second half of the year.

Oil demand was slightly above 100 million bpd in 2019 but was hammered by the pandemic in 2020.