OPEC+ Ministers, Eight OPEC+ Countries Confirm Earlier Decisions on Production for Q1 2026
The ministers of OPEC+ countries confirmed previously made decisions on oil production levels in 2026 at a virtual meeting on Sunday, meaning current production quotas will be in effect for the whole year, OPEC said in a press release.
The ministers also approved a mechanism to assess participating countries’ maximum sustainable production capacity (MSC) to be used as reference for the 2027 production baselines.
The ministers of the eight OPEC+ countries that previously announced additional voluntary production cuts, which also met virtually on Sunday, reaffirmed their earlier decision to pause increasing output in the first quarter of 2026, meaning the production level in the quarter will be set at the level of the quota for December.
These eight countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, are scheduled to hold their next meeting in January 2025, and the ministers of all OPEC+ members will meet on June 7, 2026.
The ministers of all OPEC+ countries decided back in December 2024 to extend the quotas in place in 2024 to 2025 and 2026, and then confirmed this in the middle of 2025. Since then, only the production quotas of the eight countries that voluntarily cut output have changed.
In the all-country meeting, the OPEC+ ministers approved a mechanism to assess participating countries’ MSC to be used as reference for the 2027 production baselines for all participating countries. It was decided that Degolyer & Macnaughton will assess the MSC for 19 countries, except Russia, Venezuela and Iran, according to Interfax information.
The ministers also reaffirmed the framework of the Charter of Cooperation signed on July 2, 2019, and asked the OPEC Secretariat “to develop a plan and convert it into programs to achieve the full objectives” of the charter, and present it at the next meeting.
“In the current conditions the role of our alliance remains critically important for global energy security, economic stability and long-term investment. Today the market remains sensitive to changes in supply and demand. Its stability still depends on the decisions of key players,” TV channel Rossiya 24 reported Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying.
“Our main objective is to support and implement existing agreements in full. Monitoring the fulfilment of mandatory and voluntary production adjustments by all participants will continue. Depending on the situation on the market, additional decisions will be made if necessary. Such flexibility will enable OPEC+ to continue to support stability on the oil market,” Novak said.
The ministers of the eight OPEC+ countries “reiterated that the 1.65 million barrels per day may be returned in part or in full subject to evolving market conditions,” and reaffirmed the importance of “retaining full flexibility to continue pausing or reverse the additional voluntary production adjustments, including the previously implemented voluntary adjustments of the 2.2 million barrels per day announced in November 2023,” the press release said.
These eight countries had two packages of restrictions, by 2.2 million bpd and 1.65 million bpd. The latter package was initially in effect to the end of 2026, but in September, after 2.2 million bpd were returned to the market at an accelerated pace, these countries started the accelerated restoration of the 1.65 million bpd, by 137,000 bpd per month in October, November and now in December.
