Meeting of Eight OPEC+ Members Brought Forward to May 3

By Adedapo Adesanya

A sub-group made up of eight members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) have brought forward a policy meeting by two days to May 3.

According to Argus, the meeting, initially scheduled to hold on Monday, May 5, will now hold on Saturday (tomorrow).

The eight countries — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — are meeting to decide on their crude production targets for June.

Sources say it was essentially for the convenience of a few oil ministers who would have struggled to make it on Monday.

In early April, the eight members decided to speed up plans to unwind a collective 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts.

Saudi Arabia reportedly pushed for a larger-than-planned output hike from the eight members in May, a decision that helped send oil prices below $60 a barrel to a 4-year low.

The group is now expected to raise output by 411,000 barrels per day, three times the level agreed in December 2024.

Saudi Arabia, regarded as OPEC+ defacto leader and its biggest output cutting country, has been angered by Kazakhstan and Iraq producing above their OPEC+ targets.

The total 22-member group, which includes Nigeria, is currently cutting output by over 5 million barrels per day.

The group plans to hold a full ministerial meeting on May 28.