Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to raise their September oil production targets by 188,000 barrels per day, according to a press release from the group. The decision was made at a monthly online meeting on August 2.
Russia's quota for September will be 9.949 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia and Russia hold the largest quotas, while Algeria and Oman have the smallest.
Jorge Leon, an analyst at Rystad Energy, called the decision expected in a comment to AFP. He said it changes little in the short term because capacity through the Strait of Hormuz, through which Middle Eastern OPEC+ members export oil, remains limited amid the ongoing US war against Iran. "The real impact on the market will appear when normal export volumes resume," Leon said.
Production targets for the seven countries were also raised by 188,000 barrels per day in June, July and August. Bloomberg notes that the quota increase is largely symbolic: exports from the Persian Gulf have fallen significantly due to the war, and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has stopped. Yemen's Iran-linked Houthi rebels have declared a blockade of Saudi ports, threatening the route through the Red Sea.
Experts also point to Russia, where production is currently fluctuating around 9 million barrels per day, against a target of 9.8 million. Analysts attribute this to more frequent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.
The seven countries will continue holding monthly meetings, with the next one scheduled for September 6. After September, the group will likely pause output growth until the end of the year, Reuters sources said earlier, as the alliance faces potentially difficult negotiations over new production quotas for 2027. Some members, including Iraq, are pushing for higher quotas.
In 2022-2023, the group's members jointly cut total production by nearly 6 million barrels per day. However, since 2025, the OPEC+ seven, as well as the United Arab Emirates, which left the group on May 1, have changed strategy, deciding to gradually increase output.