OPEC+ agrees fourth oil quota hike since Hormuz closure

LONDON: OPEC+ agreed on Sunday a fourth increase in its oil output targets in as many months, OPEC said in a statement, even though the U.S. war with Iran is still preventing several of the group’s members from pumping more.

The war has cut oil flows via the Strait of Hormuz, creating the world’s biggest-ever supply crisis as key OPEC+ members including Saudi Arabia have been unable to supply customers in full since the end of February. The crisis for OPEC+ deepened when the United Arab Emirates left the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after almost 60 years.

Seven core members of OPEC+, which groups OPEC and allied producers including Russia, have increased their output quotas from April to June by almost 600,000 barrels per day.

In reality, the group’s production has collapsed due to export cuts by Gulf members, averaging 33.19 million bpd in April compared with 42.77 million in February, according to OPEC figures.

On Sunday, the seven members decided to increase targets by 188,000 bpd from July, the statement said. This is the same as the June hike, which was adjusted down from monthly increases of 206,000 bpd in May and April to take into account the UAE exit.

The seven of 21 OPEC+ members who met on Sunday are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Oman. In recent years, only the seven plus the UAE when it was a member have been involved in the group’s output policy decisions.

Three other OPEC and OPEC+ meetings, including one of all OPEC+ ministers, were also scheduled for Sunday. The meeting of all OPEC+ ministers is not expected to make any changes to group-wide output policy, OPEC+ sources said earlier on Sunday.