OPEC+ to boost oil production by 548,000 barrels per day in August
NEW YORK — Eight members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries say they will boost production by 548,000 barrels per day in August in a move that could further reduce gas prices this year.
The group that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia made the decision at a virtual meeting Saturday. They cited a 'steady global economic outlook' and low oil inventories.
Oil prices spiked sharply last month during the bloody, 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran but then tumbled back down as the U.S. helped broker a peace deal after dropping bombs on three of Iran's key nuclear sites.
Saudi Arabia holds significant influence in OPEC+ as the dominant member of the OPEC producers' cartel, and Russia is the leading non-OPEC member in the 22-country alliance.
Along with Saudi Arabia and Russia, the group that met Saturday is made up of Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.
A statement said the new measures were in accordance with a December decision to put off increasing production at that time, but gradually increase it by 2.2 million barrels per day over an 18-month period starting in April and ending in fall 2026. The delayed ramp up reflected weaker-than-expected demand and competing production from non-allied countries.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Russia's transportation minister found dead in what officials say was an apparent suicide
MOSCOW — Russian's transport minister was found dead from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, investigators said Monday — news that broke hours after the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin did not give a reason for the firing of Roman Starovoit, who served as transport minister since May 2024, and it was unclear when exactly he died and whether it was related to an investigation into alleged corruption, as some Russian media suggested. Russia's Investigative Committee, the top criminal investigation agency, said the body of Starovoit, 53, was found with a gunshot wound in his car parked in Odintsovo, a neighborhood just west of the capital where many members of Russia's elite live. A gun previously presented to him as an official gift was reportedly found next to his body. A criminal probe was launched into the death, and investigators saw suicide as the most likely cause, according to committee's spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko, who did not say when Starovoit died. Law enforcement agents were seen carrying Starovoit's body from the site Monday evening. Andrei Kartapolov, a former deputy defense minister who heads a defense committee in the lower house of parliament, told news outlet RTVI that Starovoit killed himself 'quite a while ago,' and some Russian media alleged that he may have taken his life before the publication of Putin's decree firing him. Starovoit was last seen in public Sunday morning, when an official video from the ministry's situation room featured him receiving reports from officials. Speculation swirls over reasons for Starovoit's dismissal Russian media have reported that Starovoit's dismissal could have been linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for building fortifications in the Kursk region, where he served as governor before becoming transportation minister. The alleged embezzlement has been cited as one of the reasons for deficiencies in Russia's defensive lines that failed to stem a surprise Ukrainian incursion in the region launched in August 2024. In the stunning attack, Ukraine's battle-hardened mechanized units quickly overwhelmed lightly armed Russian border guards and inexperienced army conscripts. Hundreds were taken prisoner. The incursion was a humiliating blow to the Kremlin — the first time the country's territory was occupied by an invader since World War II. The Russian military had announced its troops had fully reclaimed the border territory in April — nearly nine months after losing chunks of the region. Starovoit's successor as Kursk governor, Alexei Smirnov, stepped down in December and was arrested on embezzlement charges in April. Some Russian media have alleged that Starovoit also could have faced charges as part of the investigation. His dismissal also followed a weekend of travel chaos as Russian airports were forced to ground hundreds of flights due to Ukrainian drone attacks. Most commentators said, however, that the air traffic disruptions have become customary amid frequent Ukrainian drone raids and were unlikely to have triggered his dismissal. Shortly after Putin's decree on Starovoit was published, Andrei Korneichuk, an official with a state railways agency under his ministry, collapsed and died during a business meeting, Russian news reports said. They said he died of an apparent heart attack. Other high-level corruption cases pressed An official order releasing Starovoit from his post was published on the Kremlin's website Monday morning without giving a reason for his dismissal. Shortly before the news of Starovoit's death broke, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Starovoit's replacement, Andrei Nikitin, and refused to comment on the reasons behind the move. Russian authorities have investigated a slew of cases of high-level corruption that was widely blamed for military setbacks in Ukraine. On Monday, Khalil Arslanov, a former deputy chief of the military's General Staff, was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Arslanov is a former member of the military brass close to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Several of them were targeted in a far-ranging probe into alleged military graft. Last week, Shoigu's former deputy, Timur Ivanov, was convicted on charges of embezzlement and money laundering and handed a 13-year prison sentence. Shoigu, a veteran official with personal ties to Putin, survived the purges of his inner circle and was given the high-profile post of secretary of Russia's Security Council. In another move Monday, the Investigative Committee announced the arrest of Viktor Strigunov, the former first deputy chief of the National Guard. It said Strigunov was charged with corruption and abuse of office. ------ Associated Press writer Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed. By Illia Novikov
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
OPEC+ to complete oil output cut unwinding in September
OPEC+ oil producers are set to approve another big output boost for September as they complete both the unwinding of voluntary production cuts by eight members and the United Arab Emirates' move to a larger quota, five sources said. The group, which pumps about half of the world's oil, has been curtailing production for several years to support the market. But it has reversed course this year to regain market share and as U.S. President Donald Trump demanded the group pump more to help keep gasoline prices lower. OPEC+ began to unwind cuts of 2.17 million barrels per day in April with a boost of 138,000 bpd. Hikes of 411,000 bpd followed in May, June and July, despite falling oil prices. On Saturday, the group approved a 548,000 bpd jump for August. Five sources familiar with the discussions said on Monday the group is likely to approve an increase of around 550,000 bpd for September when it meets on August 3. That will complete the return to the market of 2.17 million bpd from the eight members: Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Algeria. It will also complete an additional 300,000 bpd output jump from the UAE as the country moves to a larger production quota, the sources said. OPEC and the UAE did not respond to requests for comment. The September boost if realized would bring total production increases since April to 2.47 million bpd or just under 2.5 per cent of global demand. The rise would see OPEC+ leader Saudi Arabia pumping close to 10 million bpd and UAE some 3.375 million bpd. The UAE has long complained about its low production quota of around 3 million bpd, arguing it has invested heavily to be able to produce over 4 million bpd. OPEC+ agreed to boost the UAE's quota by 300,000 bpd in June 2024, telling the country to raise production gradually so as to complete the increase by September, 2025. OPEC+ then repeatedly postponed its own production increases and pushed back the UAE's higher quota to September, 2026. However, it has spurred bigger production increases since May, bringing forward the return of its own barrels to the market and effectively allowing the UAE to boost output quicker, returning to the original schedule of September, 2025. 'As the group has decided to accelerate the unwinding process, the UAE is benefiting from this speeding up of the quota increases,' said Richard Bronze from Energy Aspects. OPEC+ still has separate cuts of 3.66 million bpd in place consisting of 1.66 million bpd in voluntary cuts and some 2 million bpd across all members, which expire at the end of 2026.
Calgary Herald
6 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Silver lining: Alberta natural gas — and budget — get boost with historic LNG ocean shipment
Article content If LNG prices are the silver lining of non-renewables, the light clouds could be gas prices — and the shadow comes from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. Article content 'Overall, the oil market is good, not great,' Botterill said. Article content OPEC+ has reversed voluntary production cuts, announcing consecutive monthly production increases since April. Article content 'This strategy aims to capture greater market share from non-OPEC producers amidst a volatile global trade environment influenced by U.S. tariffs,' the Deloitte & Touche report found. Article content The Energy Information Administration expects oil production growth in 2025 will surpass annual demand growth, posing a risk of oversupply. Article content Article content 'We are in a little bit of an oversupply place right now around the globe, meaning that I think we're probably going to see OPEC probably stay the line and stay the course, because I think they'd much rather see higher prices than flooding the market,' Botterill said. Article content 'Obviously, with some of the conflicts going on right now, there's big supply chain issues and cargoes not being able to move directions we'd like to move them due to foreign conflicts, so we may see some problems on that.' Article content Overall, in the Canadian market, the discount on Western Canadian Select (WCS) to WTI settlement prices has narrowed with markedly low fluctuation, to around US$10 in the past quarter, achieving one of the lowest quarterly averages observed for this differential in recent years, the Deloitte & Touche report found. Article content Much of the credit goes to the 2024 twinning of the Trans Mountain Pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C. and Washington state, with a 'batching' process allowing different petroleum products—and more than twice as much of it—to move through the pipeline in sequence. Article content Article content 'This suggests that the TMX, which was completed last year to enable pipeline egress for heavy crude from Western Canada, is the main factor sustaining the narrow differential and appears to have fundamentally affected the Canadian oil market on whole,' the report found. Article content 'What has been great about the Trans Mountain Pipeline extension is having that those extra seaborne volumes going out into Asia have strengthened Canadian received prices. It kind of proves the case that, hey, if we have more markets that we can get to, people have to compete for our volumes, right?' Botterill said. Article content In Q3 2025, Canadian oil differentials may tighten further as wildfires across Alberta have contributed to the shut-in of 7 per cent of Canada's production, according to Reuters estimates. Article content The Alberta government saw the 2024-25 fiscal year ending March 31 with a healthy bottom line, with a $4.7 billion injection from non-renewable resource revenue and record-high production, as well as the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in May 2024.
