The 22 oil-producing states in the alliance increased their production by 349,000 barrels per day in June, according to the monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
These figures, based on estimates from independent institutions, show that the total increase fell short of the 411,000 barrels per day agreed upon last May by a key group within the alliance.
Since April 1, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman have been implementing an agreement to gradually return 2.2 million barrels per day to the market, which had been cut in 2023.
Overall, these eight countries produced an additional 395,000 barrels per day, 16,000 barrels per day less than the promised 411,000, with Saudi Arabia increasing production by 173,000 barrels per day to 9.35 million/day, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 83,000 barrels per day at 3.05 million barrels per day, Kazakhstan with 64,000 barrels per day at 1.84 million barrels per day, and Russia with 41,000 barrels per day reaching 9.02 million barrels per day.
Initially, these eight countries had planned to gradually reverse the cut of 2.2 million barrels per day over a year and a half with modest monthly increases of 137,000 barrels per day.
However, after the first quota took effect on April 1, they decided to accelerate the increase, tripling the monthly volume to 411,000 barrels per day in May, June, and July. Another acceleration was agreed upon on July 5, raising the August increase to 548,000 barrels per day.
Thus, between April 1 and August 30, they should have added 1.92 million barrels per day to the market, nearly the majority of the total proposed increase of 2.2 million barrels per day.
The production from the remaining members of the alliance, who committed to maintain other reductions in place until the end of 2026, was expected to remain at May levels, a target not all managed to achieve.
According to calculations, in June, Mexico’s output fell by 19,000 barrels per day to 1.44 million barrels per day, Azerbaijan’s decreased by 1,000 barrels per day to 464 barrels per day, and Equatorial Guinea’s reduced by 3 million barrels per day to 54,000 barrels per day.
Venezuela, Iran, and Libya are outside these commitments, three OPEC partners exempted from limiting their production due to various causes such as sanctions and conflicts affecting their oil industries.
