OPEC+ Agrees to 206,000 BPD Production Hike in April

VIENNA (DTN) – Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their partners on Sunday (3/1) agreed to raise output by 206,000 bpd in April. The quota increase came after a three-month production hike pause and was largely expected.

Considering recent disruptions to oil flows from the Middle East and the supply risks an escalating war with Iran would carry, the new production target seemed rather modest. Saudi Arabia, however, who sits on most of the group’s spare production capacity, separately started to raise output and exports by some 500,000 bpd in recent weeks in anticipation of potential U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

The so-called group of eight – core OPEC members and partners who between November 2023 and April 2025 have shouldered a combined 2.2 million bpd in voluntary production cuts to fight softening prices – last year raised quotas by 2.9 million bpd.