By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Olesya Astakhova
LONDON/MOSCOW, Oct 4 (Reuters) – OPEC+ has agreed in principle to keep oil production targets steady for November, three sources close to the matter said ahead of the group’s meeting on Sunday.
Gulf OPEC+ producers have been pumping well below output targets in the face of continuing export disruptions from the US-Israeli war on Iran, with exports fluctuating at 60-80% of normal levels in recent months.
The war has also delayed the group’s output capacity review — crucial to determine members’ 2027 output quotas — because it has thrown estimates of future production potential into uncertainty, industry sources have said.
The OPEC+ group, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, has agreed in principle to keep targets steady for November, the three sources close to the talks said.
OPEC+ has been raising output targets for much of 2026 after years of production cuts, but most of the increases stayed on paper because of the Middle East conflict.
The seven core OPEC+ members pumped 25 million barrels per day in August, up 630,000 bpd from July, yet still roughly 5 million bpd below prewar levels in February, OPEC data shows.
OPEC+ still has about 2 million bpd of output cuts in place covering most members. It needs a capacity review to decide how to distribute increases and any changes to output are unlikely before 2027, sources have said.
The group’s seven core members meeting at 1100 GMT on Sunday are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman.
A separate OPEC+ ministerial group called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which does not decide policy, also meets on Sunday to review the market.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Olesya Astakhova and Alex LawlerWriting by Dmitry ZhdannikovEditing by David Goodman)
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