By Dmitry Zhdannikov, Alex Lawler and Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (Reuters) -The decision by OPEC and its allies on Sunday to keep oil output targets steady in the first quarter of next year came after Russia lobbied for the pause because it would struggle to increase exports due to Western sanctions, four OPEC+ sources said.

The decision from the OPEC+ oil producing group suited Saudi Arabia because demand is typically slower in the first quarter of the year and there is rising concern in the oil market of a supply glut in 2026, two of the sources said.

OPEC+ has raised output targets by around 2.9 million barrels per day – or around 2.7% of global supply – since April in a series of monthly increases to regain market share, but slowed the pace of hikes from October amid predictions of a loom

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