RIYADH — Eight oil-producing nations of the OPEC+ alliance agreed on Saturday to increase their collective oil production by 548,000 barrels per day in August. The decision to further accelerate oil output hike was taken during a virtual meeting of the eight member countries, comprising Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman. The group held its first meeting—since oil prices jumped and then retreated following Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran—to review oil market developments and future outlook. They had been expected to increase their output by a smaller 411,000 barrels per day. This increase, which is equivalent to four previous monthly increments, is in line with "a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories," the OPEC Secretariat said in a statement. "The gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions. This flexibility will allow the group to continue to support oil market stability," the statement emphasized. Saturday's decision builds on the previous agreement on December 5, 2024, regarding the gradual and flexible restoration of the voluntary production adjustments of 2.2 million barrels per day, which began on April 1, 2025. The alliance initially set out to boost their production by 137,000 barrels per day every month until September 2026, but only sustained that pace in April. The group then tripled the hike to 411,000 barrels per day in each of May, June, and July, and is further accelerating the pace of their increases in August. The OPEC+ countries indicated that these increases are subject to adjustment or temporary suspension depending on market dynamics, giving it the flexibility needed to support market stability. They also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation. The OPEC+ countries reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including the additional voluntary production adjustments that were agreed to be monitored by the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) during its 53rd meeting held on April 3, 2024. They also confirmed their intention to fully compensate for any overproduced volume since January 2024, the statement pointed out.
