Overview

• Eight core members agreed at their July virtual meeting to restore 548,000 barrels per day in August, taking total unwinds since April to 1.918 million bpd
• The alliance is set to complete the return of its 2.2 million bpd voluntary cuts by September, a year earlier than initially planned
• Saudi Arabia has urged over-producing members such as Kazakhstan and Iraq to compensate for earlier quota breaches, highlighting internal compliance strains
• OPEC’s Vienna-based secretariat cited low inventories and a steady global economic outlook as the basis for the larger supply increase
• President Trump’s appeals for lower gasoline prices reinforced OPEC+’s strategic pivot from price defense toward volume maximization