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LONDON/MOSCOW:
The world’s largest group of oil producers, OPEC+, stuck to its guns on Saturday with another big increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July as it looks to wrestle back market share and punish over-producers.
Having spent years curbing production – more than 5 million barrels a day (bpd) or 5% of world demand – eight OPEC+ countries made a modest output increase in April before tripling it for May, June and now July.
They are spurring production despite the extra supply weighing on crude prices as group leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia seek to win back market share as well as punish over-producing allies such as Iraq and Kazakhstan.
The eight countries held an online meeting on Saturday to set July production. They also discussed other options, an OPEC+ delegate said. On Friday, sources familiar with OPEC+ talks had said they could discuss an even larger hike. In a statement OPEC+ cited a “steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories” as its reasoning for the July increase.
Its increased supply is weighing on crude prices, squeezing all producers, but some more than others, including a key group of rivals – US shale producers, analysts say. “Three strikes from OPEC+, and none were softballs. May warned, June confirmed, and July fires a shot across the bow,” said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad and a former OPEC official.
Since April, the OPEC+ eight have now made or announced increases totalling 1.37 million bpd, or 62% of the 2.2 million bpd they aim to add back to the market. Higher summer oil demand favours increasing output at this time, OPEC+ officials including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak have said. Algeria was among a small number of nations that requested a pause in the output hikes on Saturday.
