OPEC+ discussing postponing planned increase in oil output as of October - sources

MOSCOW. Sept 4 (Interfax) - OPEC+ is discussing postponing a planned increase in oil production beginning in October amid a decline in oil prices to a nine-month low, Reuters reports, citing three sources in the alliance.

Reuters said that the alliance decided last week to continue implementing the plan to boost oil output as of October by 180,000 barrels per day, though market volatility owing to the closure of capacity in Libya and the prospect of weak demand for oil have increased concerns within the group, one of Reuters' sources said.

The news agency's other sources said that "there is a proposal to postpone the increase," and that a postponement looks "very possible" at this stage.

An Interfax source said that discussions regarding the alliance's actions are ongoing and any options are possible.

In addition to the official quotas of the alliance, there are voluntarily additional reductions of eight OPEC+ countries, and the reduction by 1.65 million barrels of oil per day to quotas announced in April 2023 is valid until the end of 2025.

The reduction of 2.2 million bpd announced in November last year is valid until October 2024, and then it gradually rolls back on a monthly basis throughout the year.

However, the volunteer countries of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, and Oman have emphasized that they could refuse to increase or reverse it depending on the market situation.