OPEC+ bloc set to make another oil output hike for Aug today, say sources

LONDON: Eight OPEC+ countries are likely to make another accelerated oil output increase for August at a meeting on Saturday, sources from the producer group told Reuters, as they seek to regain market share.

The group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Algeria, is expected to agree to an increase of 411,000 barrels per day for August, several sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of

anonymity.

If agreed, OPEC+ would have increased supply targets by about 1.78 million bpd, or 1.5 per cent of global oil consumption.

Actual increases, however, have been lower as some members deliver cuts to compensate for past overproduction.

On Friday, the group decided to bring the meeting date forward by one day, the sources said. One of them said it was not yet clear if 411,000 bpd would be the final agreement.

OPEC+ made a radical change in policy this year, after several years of output cuts totalling more than 5 million bpd.

This came when the eight members started to unwind their most recent output cut of 2.2 million bpd starting in April and accelerated the hikes in May, June and July, despite the extra supply weighing on crude prices.