OPEC+ To Increase Oil Production in May: Report

OPEC+ is expected to agree on a plan that would see production for the group increase in May, OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

The OPEC+ group, comprised of the 12 OPEC members—Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Venezuela, Gabon, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, UAE, Congo, and Nigeria—and non-OPEC member organizations Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Oman, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Malaysia, South Sudan, Brunei, and Sudan—produce more than 45 million barrels of crude oil per day—or 59% of global oil production. The combined clout of the members is considerable and has proven sufficient for moving oil prices.

Eight of the OPEC+ members are scheduled to lift production by another 135,000 barrels per day in May, OPEC+ sources told Reuters—although the planned increase on paper could result in improved compliance rather than an actual production hike.

Kazakhstan, for example, has been exceeding its oil production quota for years, reaching an all-time high in March, despite its pledges to do better. Russia, one of the larger members of the broader group, has claimed that it was in full compliance with its oil production quotas in January and February, but analysts and secondary sources routinely fault Russia for its chronic overproduction.

Iraq is another chronic overproducer, although it has agreed to compensatory cuts over the next year.

At the OPEC+ ministerial in December, the alliance delayed the start of the easing of its 2.2 million bpd cuts to April 2025. The group also extended the period in which it would unwind all these cuts to until September 2026.

The OPEC+ group is scheduled to meet virtually on Thursday and is expected to approve production hikes for May.

The news comes as the Brent crude oil benchmark is trading at $74.67—$16 under where it was this time last year.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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