LONDON: Eight OPEC+ countries are likely to make another accelerated oil output increase for August at a meeting on Saturday, sources from the producer group told Reuters, as they seek to regain market share.
The group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Algeria, is expected to agree to an increase of 411,000 barrels per day for August, several sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
If agreed, OPEC+ would have increased supply targets by about 1.78 million bpd, or 1.5% of global oil consumption. Actual increases, however, have been lower as some members deliver cuts to compensate for past overproduction.
On Friday, the group decided to bring the meeting date forward by one day, the sources said. One of them said it was not yet clear if 411,000 bpd would be the final agreement.
OPEC+ made a radical change in policy this year, after several years of output cuts totalling more than 5 million bpd. This came when the eight members started to unwind their most recent output cut of 2.2 million bpd starting in April and accelerated the hikes in May, June and July, despite the extra supply weighing on crude prices.
The acceleration came after some members, such as Kazakhstan, produced way over their targets, angering other members that were sticking more closely to agreed cuts.
Kazakh output returned to growth last month and matched an all-time high, as the Chevron-led Tengiz field ramped up, a source familiar with the data told Reuters this week.
OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, is looking to expand its market share against the backdrop of growing supplies from other producers like the United States.
The group pumps about half of the world’s oil. As of their decision for July output, the OPEC+ eight have made or announced production increases of 1.37 million bpd. This is 62% of the production cut of 2.2 million bpd that they are unwinding. – Reuters
