OPEC+ agrees to keep Nov oil output targets steady

Business Recorder reported that OPEC+ will keep its oil production targets unchanged for November, following a brief online meeting on Sunday. Seven core members, namely Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman, took the decision. The outcome matched market expectations that no further output policy changes would come before next year.

Gulf producers in the group have been pumping well below their targets because the Iran war, involving the United States and Israel, keeps disrupting exports, which have recently run at 60 to 80 percent of normal levels. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said output remains under quota even as flows through the Strait of Hormuz rise, so the oil market stays tight. Brent crude is still above USD100 a barrel, compared with about USD73 before the conflict began in late February.

Most of this year's target increases have remained on paper, with the seven core members producing 25 million barrels per day in August, 630,000 bpd more than July yet roughly 5 million below pre-war levels, OPEC data shows. The conflict has also delayed the capacity review needed to set 2027 quotas, and the group's next meeting is on November 1. Business Recorder added that a separate ministerial panel, the JMMC, also met on Sunday to review the market, though it does not set policy.