The meeting comes as the Iran war continues to disrupt oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, limiting OPEC+’s influence over prices and market share. Unlike in the past, the group’s supply decisions have had a limited impact on the market.
In August, OPEC+ agreed to its production boost for September, completing a phased rollback of a 1.65 million-barrel-per-day supply cut first agreed in 2023. Despite the agreed production increases, the group, made up of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, still produces far below its targets because of the war.
OPEC+ still has another layer of production cuts in place, covering most members of the 21-country group until the end of 2026. Before the group decides how to unwind the cuts and return production to the market, it needs to review members’ oil production capacity to set 2027 output baselines, which form the basis for quotas.
This debate will likely happen later in 2026, and hence OPEC+ is likely to pause its output increases for the fourth quarter, sources earlier told Reuters.
–Reuters–
