OPEC+ Oil Production Climbs Again in August

OPEC’s oil output rose further in August, hitting 27.84 million barrels per day—a gain of 360,000 bpd over July’s revised total. The rise was driven chiefly by expanded production from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates under an OPEC+ agreement to gradually reverse output curbs.

The production boost stemmed from an agreement by eight OPEC+ countries for August output, under which five OPEC members—Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—were to raise output by 416,000 bpd, before accounting for compensation cuts totalling 178,000 bpd imposed due to earlier overproduction. In practice, those five delivered a net increase of 310,000 bpd.

This escalation forms part of OPEC+’s accelerated effort to dismantle its most recent output cuts. Simultaneously, some members continue to implement additional cuts to offset previous excesses, theoretically capping the effect of these increases.

This latest surge underlines OPEC+’s strategy of reclaiming market share through coordinated rollback of production restraints, even as the group attempts to preserve price stability by enforcing compliance and offset mechanisms.