The OPEC+ alliance agreed on Sunday evening to a slight increase in oil production in December and to suspend increases in the first quarter of next year, following expectations of a supply glut.
The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman reaffirmed their shared commitment to supporting the stability of the global oil market in light of the strong fundamentals currently present in oil markets and the outlook for stable global economic growth.
OPEC+ has increased production by about 2.9 million barrels per day, roughly 2.7 percent of global supply, since April, but has slowed the pace since October amid expectations of an imminent surplus.
New Western sanctions against Russia, an OPEC+ member, add to the challenges facing that strategy, as Moscow is likely to find it difficult to increase its production further after the United States and Britain imposed new sanctions on Russian companies Rosneft and Lukoil.
The eight OPEC+ members participating in the monthly meeting – Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Kazakhstan and Algeria – agreed to increase production targets for December by 137,000 barrels per day, the same level of increase as for October and November.
In a statement released after December, the group said that due to seasonal factors, the eight countries also decided to suspend production increases in January, February and March 2026.
