The eight OPEC+ countries on Sunday agreed to a modest oil output boost of 206,000 barrels per day for April, a decision framed as a response to steady market fundamentals and global economic growth.
The action comes at a time when energy markets are on high alert as navigation in the Strait of Hormuz has been halted following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The meeting on Sunday involved only eight members of OPEC+ - Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman.
OPEC+ groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies like Russia but most production changes in the past years have been done by the eight members.
“In view of a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories, the eight participating countries decided to resume the unwinding of the 1.65 million barrels per day of additional voluntary adjustments announced in April 2023 and agreed on a production adjustment of 206 thousand barrels per day,” the eight members said in a statement.
“This adjustment will be implemented in April 2026 as detailed in the table below. The 1.65 million barrels per day may be returned in part or in full subject to evolving market conditions and in a gradual manner,” they added.
Also, the countries said they will continue to closely monitor and assess market conditions, and in their continuous efforts to support market stability, they reaffirmed the importance of adopting a cautious approach and retaining full flexibility to increase, pause or reverse the phase out of the voluntary production adjustments, including reversing the previously implemented voluntary adjustments of the 2.2 million barrels per day announced in November 2023.
The eight OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation.
They reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including the additional voluntary production adjustments that will be monitored by the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).
They confirmed their intention to fully compensate for any overproduced volume since January 2024.
The eight OPEC+ countries will hold monthly meetings to review market conditions, conformity, and compensation. They will meet on April 5.
The eight members had raised production quotas by about 2.9 million bpd from April through December 2025, roughly 3% of global demand, before pausing increases for January to March 2026 due to seasonal weakness.
Oil, gas and other shipments from the Middle East via the Strait of Hormuz have come to a halt since Saturday after shipowners received a warning from Iran saying the area was closed for navigation.
Hundreds of ships dropped anchor and were not moving on Sunday and several ships came under attack. Hormuz is the world's most important oil route accounting for over 20% of global oil transit.
