By Abubakar Yunus
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies (OPEC+), have agreed to increase crude oil production by 188,000 barrels per day (bpd) from August.
In a statement yesterday, OPEC said the decision was made during a virtual meeting of seven member countries that had previously implemented additional voluntary adjustments in April and November 2023.
The countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman.
According to the international organisation, the meeting assessed global market conditions and the outlook, with the decision aimed at supporting stability in the oil market.
“In their collective commitment to support oil market stability, the seven participating countries decided to implement a production adjustment of 188 thousand barrels per day from the additional voluntary adjustments announced in April 2023,” OPEC said.
According to the oil cartel, the adjustment will take effect in August 2026.
OPEC said the additional voluntary adjustments announced in April 2023 could be returned in part or in full subject to evolving market conditions and implemented gradually.
The oil alliance said the countries will continue to closely monitor and evaluate market conditions, reiterating the need for a cautious and measured approach.
According to OPEC, the countries also retained full flexibility to increase, pause or reverse the phase out of the voluntary production adjustments, “including reversing the previously implemented voluntary adjustments announced in November 2023”.
“The seven OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation,” the statement reads.
“The seven countries reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including the additional voluntary production adjustments that will be monitored by the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).
“They also confirmed their intention to fully compensate for any overproduced volume since January 2024.”
OPEC said the seven OPEC+ countries will hold monthly meetings, adding that the seven countries will meet on August 2.
On June 7, OPEC agreed to raise oil production by 188,000 bpd in this month to support oil market stability.
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