Seven OPEC+ Members Move to Raise September Output Quotas by 188,000 Barrels a Day, With Pause Expected After
How left and right are reading this
- Both agree
- The September increase completes the 2023 unwinding only on paper: wars, a closed Strait of Hormuz and drone-hit Russian infrastructure mean announced quotas do not translate into moving barrels.
- They split on
- Whether the story is about ending reliance on a commodity this exposed to war, or about refusing to treat a shrinking alliance's announcements as an energy-security guarantee.
The Facts
- Seven OPEC+ members — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman — held an online meeting on Aug. 2 to set September production quotas.
- The group was expected to raise its collective output target by about 188,000 barrels per day from September, matching the size of recent monthly increases.
- The September increase would complete the unwinding of 1.65 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts the group agreed in 2023.
- Sources and analysts said the alliance is likely to pause further quota increases for the remainder of the year after September.
- The quota increases have remained largely on paper, because the Iran and Ukraine wars have disrupted actual exports from Gulf producers, Russia and Kazakhstan.
- Members have limited ability to produce and export more oil: the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to most tanker traffic and Russian oil infrastructure has come under repeated drone attack.
- The pause is linked to upcoming negotiations over new production quotas, with the organisation assessing each member's capacity to set baseline output levels for 2027.
- The United Arab Emirates, part of the original group that agreed the 2023 voluntary cuts, left the organisation in May 2026.
Context
Why would a quota increase not necessarily mean more oil on the market?
A quota is a permitted ceiling, not actual output. Reuters sources said the monthly increases through this year have stayed 'largely on paper' because the Iran and Ukraine wars disrupted exports from the Gulf, Russia and Kazakhstan US News & World Rep…,S A N A. AFP reporting notes members have little spare capacity to produce and export more while the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway carrying about 20% of global oil — is closed to most tanker traffic and Russian infrastructure faces drone attacks Mail Online,Economic Times,الخارجية ال….
What were the 2023 cuts that are now being unwound?
Between late 2022 and 2023, OPEC+ responded to falling oil prices with three separate rounds of cuts totalling nearly six million barrels per day NST Online,Free Malaysia Today. The September step completes the rollback of the second package, a 1.65 million bpd voluntary cut agreed by a subgroup of members in 2023 Interfax.ru,Ведомости,Business Standard. One report says roughly two million bpd of cuts would remain in place after September Crypto Briefing.
What happens after the September increase?
Sources told Reuters the alliance expects to hold quotas steady for the fourth quarter while it works out new production baselines for 2027, a process that involves assessing each member's capacity and is described by delegates as potentially difficult Reuters,Idaho Statesman,Информацион…. A full ministerial meeting of the alliance is scheduled for Nov. 29 RT на русск….
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