MILAN – The OPEC+ countries have decided to keep the level of their crude oil supply unchanged in November, for the second consecutive month. The decision, identical to the one adopted a month ago for the month of October, was agreed by the competent ministers of Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, according to what was reported by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), based in Vienna.
These are seven key members of OPEC+ who, over a period of more than a year, up to and including last September, gradually revoked two voluntary production cuts totaling 3.85 million barrels per day applied in 2023 to support crude oil prices. With today's decision, the September supply level remains frozen until and including November, the ministers underlined in their final statement. "The Seven" will continue to hold monthly meetings "to analyze market conditions. The next meeting will be held on November 1, 2026," they added.
At the end of the same month, on November 30, the plenary ministerial conference of all 21 members of the OPEC+ alliance will be held to review the cuts still in force until December 31, adopted at the end of 2022 for a total of 2 million barrels per day. The objective will be to set new production quotas starting from January 1, 2027 that better reflect reality, as a gap has been created between the data on paper and actual production due to disruptions in supplies from the Persian Gulf caused by the wars in Iran and Yemen. The prolonged and violent crisis, and in particular the blockades of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, has reduced the production and export capacity of many OPEC members.
According to the latest data published by the organization, in August the group's total production stood at 24 million barrels per day, a level which, although recording an increase of 1.46% compared to the previous month, is 15% lower than that of January, just before the start of the attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran that triggered the war. Together with the production of its allies, the overall volume of supplies (of OPEC+) reached 38 million barrels per day, equal to 38% of the world crude oil supply forecast by the International Energy Agency for the whole of 2026 (100.7 million barrels per day).
Today's decision was expected by the markets and comes after the G7 announced the immediate release, and over the next four months, of 100 million barrels of petroleum products, particularly diesel, from its strategic reserves. The objective of the measure is to slow down the increase in prices of crude oil and fuels derived from this raw material. The price of a barrel of Brent oil, the benchmark in Europe, closed the week at 102.25 dollars in London, while that of Texas intermediate oil (WTI), the benchmark in America, closed Friday's session in New York at 91.11 dollars. Founded in 1960 in Baghdad by Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq and Kuwait, OPEC is now made up of eleven countries. In 2016, the group agreed to cooperate with ten other producing nations including Russia, Mexico, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, thus giving rise to the OPEC+ alliance.
