OPEC+ Oil Producers Announce another Big Hike for July
The world’s largest group of oil producers, OPEC revealed Saturday another big increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July.
Having spent years curbing production – more than 5 million barrels a day (bpd) or 5% of world demand – eight OPEC+ countries made an modest output increase in April before tripling it for May, June and now July.
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, Reuters reported.
Algeria was among a small number of nations that requested a pause in the output hikes on Saturday, a source familiar with the matter said.
Oil prices fell to a four-year low in April, slipping below $60 per barrel after OPEC+ said it was tripling its output hike in May and as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs raised concerns about global economic weakness. Prices closed just below $63 on Friday.
