OPEC+: Production to Increase by Almost Half a Million BPD

The eight OPEC+ member countries continued to “adjust” their oil production programs “in light of strong market foundation and positive outlooks.” The videoconference, attended by Saudi Arabia (OPEC leader), Russia (OPEC+ leader), Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, analyzed “the state and prospects of the global market” and eventually agreed to “increase oil production by 411,000 bpd,” the equivalent of three monthly increases.

Following the announcement, published on OPEC’s official website, oil prices – which had already started to fall after the US announced the imposition of duties – went down rapidly: on the evening of April 3, Texas Intermediate WTI Crude fell 7.56% to below $66.38 per barrel, while Brent Crude fell 6.79% to $69.80 per barrel (see charts below).

Earlier, OPEC+ announced the phasing out of so-called “voluntary production cuts,” planning to increase production by 135,000 bpd starting May 2025. As the oil-exporting countries noted in their statement, “gradual production increases may be paused or even reversed in favor of downgrades depending on market developments.” In other words, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Kazakhstan, and Oman are gradually reducing the latest 2.2 million bpd oil production cap that took effect this month. At the same time, in order to support energy prices, OPEC+ is keeping in place production cuts of 3.65 million bpd until the end of 2026.

The daily oil production volumes agreed with OPEC+ countries are distributed as follows: 768,000 barrels for Oman, 919,000 for Algeria, 1.486 million for Kazakhstan, 2.443 million for Kuwait, 3.015 million for UAE, 4.049 million barrels for Iraq, 9.083 million for Russia, and 9.2 million for Saudi Arabia.