Khaberni - Three informed sources said it is likely that the OPEC+ alliance will agree at its next Sunday meeting to a new increase in oil production by about 137,000 barrels per day, as high oil prices push the group to continue to regain its market share.
Since April, the OPEC+ alliance has changed its production reduction strategy and has already increased production quotas by about 2.5 million barrels per day, equivalent to 2.4% of total global demand, in order to boost its market share, under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce oil prices.
Eight OPEC+ member countries will hold an online meeting on October 5th to decide on November's production. The OPEC+ alliance pumps about half of the world's oil production and consists of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and partners including Russia.
The main OPEC headquarters and relevant authorities in Saudi Arabia have not yet responded to requests for comment.
* What is the status of oil prices?
Oil prices dropped from more than $80 per barrel at the beginning of the year, but have mostly remained within a narrow range between $60 and $70 per barrel since OPEC started increasing production in April.
On Friday, prices rose to their highest levels since the beginning of August, reaching more than $70 per barrel, benefiting from Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, which disrupted refining operations and shipments from one of the world's largest oil exporters.
The total production cuts by the group peaked at 5.85 million barrels per day from three different tiers, including voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day in addition to cuts of 1.65 million barrels per day from eight members and another two million barrels per day from the entire alliance.
* The alliance discusses another increase
The eight producers intend to completely eliminate the voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day by the end of September.
They decided to begin in October to cancel the cut tier of 1.65 million barrels per day, with an increase in production of 137,000 barrels per day.
OPEC+ granted the UAE the green light to start increasing production by 300,000 barrels per day from April to September.
The three sources reported that the increase in production for November, which will be discussed on October 5th, will be at least 137,000 barrels per day, equivalent to the increase scheduled for October. The sources added that no final decision has been made yet.
Analysts mentioned that OPEC+ increases have not achieved the quantities pledged because most members are already pumping at full capacity.
The third tier of group-level cuts, totaling two million barrels per day, is scheduled to continue until the end of 2026.
