The umpteenth surge in oil prices above 126 dollars a barrel, recorded last week, convinced OPEC+ to intervene to calm oil prices, with a production increase of 188 thousand barrels. A move was mostly expected by experts, also to demonstrate that the producers’ cartel is present and vigilant, despite the recent exit of the United Arab Emirates from OPEC. Despite the announcement, however, crude oil prices persist above 100 dollars a barrel on international markets.
The countries participating in the production increase
Seven OPEC Plus countries – excluding the United Arab Emirates which last week surprisingly announced their exit from the cartel from 1 May – met via video link on Sunday 3 May to reassess market conditions and the outlook for the oil market.
The countries in question are Saudi Arabia and Russia and five other countries – Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman – which had previously announced voluntary production adjustments in April and November 2023. The Group in question, which represents the major OPEC Plus crude producers, announced an overall increase in production of 188 thousand barrels per day to support a return of oil prices to acceptable levels. This adjustment will be implemented in June 2026.
A pro-rata reduction
In more detail, Arabia, which is the largest producer, will increase the pro quota output by 62 thousand barrels to 10,291 million, Russia as the second producer will add another 62 thousand barrels, to bring production to 9,672 million, Iraq will add 26 thousand to 4,352 million, Kuwait 16 thousand to 2,628 million, Kazakhstan 10 thousand to 1,599 million Algeria 6 thousand to 989 thousand and Oman 5 thousand to 826 thousand.
The reasons for the increase in production
“The countries in question – explains OPEC+ – will continue to carefully monitor and evaluate market conditions and, in their constant commitment to supporting market stability, have reiterated the importance of adopting a prudent approach and maintaining maximum flexibility in increasing, suspending or reversing the voluntary production adjustments previously implemented and announced in November 2023”.
The seven OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will offer participating countries the opportunity to accelerate compensation payments and reiterated their collective commitment to comply with the Declaration of Cooperation signed in 2023 and to meet monthly to review market conditions and possible compensations. The next meeting of the seven countries will be held on June 7, 2026.
Crude oil prices remain above 100 dollars
Meanwhile, on international markets, oil prices remain above 100 dollars. The future for delivery in July on Brent trades at 107.81 dollars per barrel (-0.34%), after having reached an intraday low of 105.66 dollars, while the WTI for June delivery it trades at 101.51 Usd/b (-0.42%) compared to a minimum of 99.21 Usd.
