Eight OPEC+ countries increase oil output in bid to regain market share

Vienna: The eight OPEC+ countries said Sunday they will increase production by 547,000 barrels a day in a move which analysts say aims to regain market share amid resilient crude prices.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman currently produce about 41-42 million barrels a day, so the increase is about 1.5 percent.

Analysts said there was unlikely to be a major impact on prices, with the Brent reference oil currently selling at about $70 a barrel.

“The eight participating countries will implement a production adjustment of 547,000 barrels per day in September 2025 from August 2025 required production level,” said a statement released after a meeting that agreed the hike.

The eight key oil-producers, who started increasing production in April, affirmed their commitment to market stability on “current healthy oil market fundamentals,” an OPEC statement read.

“OPEC+ has passed the first test -— unwinding 2.2 million barrels per day (since April) without crashing prices or compromising unity,” said Jorge Leon, analyst at Rystad Energy.

“But the next task will be even harder: deciding if and when to unwind the remaining 1.66 million barrels, all while navigating geopolitical tension and preserving cohesion,” said Leon.

The statement said the decision came “in view of a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories.”

The OPEC+ countries agreed in December to start a gradual return from April 2025 of the 2.2 million barrels per day of previous production cuts.

The statement said that “the phase-out of the additional voluntary production adjustments may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions.”

The eight added they will hold monthly meetings for a regular review of market conditions.

In a bid to boost prices, the wider OPEC+ group — comprising the 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies — in recent years had agreed to three different tranches of output cuts that amounted to almost six million bpd in total.

Prior to the announcement, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo had suggested the quota increase was “largely priced in” on energy markets with the price of Brent, the global oil benchmark, expected to remain near its current level of around $70 per barrel after Sunday’s decision.