OPEC+ holds output flat for December, third straight month

Summary

• Seven OPEC+ producers decided to keep December output at September 2026 levels.
• Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman are among the seven states involved.
• Flat supply steadies revenue assumptions in budgets built on oil income.

The latest

Seven OPEC+ producers agreed on 1 November to keep December 2026 production at the level required for September 2026, extending a flat supply stance into a third consecutive month. The countries, meeting virtually, said they reviewed global market conditions and outlook before taking the decision. They restated a collective commitment to full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation.

Details

• The decision: According to OPEC's official release, the seven participating countries decided to maintain the September 2026 required production level for December 2026, as set out in a country-by-country table attached to the statement. The release's text carries no barrels-per-day figures for any individual producer.
• Who decided: The seven are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — the same group that announced the additional voluntary adjustments of April and November 2023. Four of them, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman, sit inside ⁦ontime+⁩'s coverage set.
• The mechanism: The adjustments at issue are voluntary, taken by this subset of OPEC+ rather than by the full alliance. They were first announced in two rounds, April 2023 and November 2023, and have since been reviewed and rolled forward by the same seven states.
• Compliance: The group reiterated what OPEC described as a collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, the framework governing OPEC and non-OPEC coordination. The statement did not name any country as under- or over-producing, and set out no enforcement step.
• The format: The producers met virtually rather than in person, and said they would continue holding monthly meetings to review market conditions. That monthly cadence keeps the group able to adjust supply at short notice rather than locking in quarterly commitments.
• Next meeting: OPEC said the next gathering of the seven countries will be held on 29 November 2026 — two days before the December production month the current decision covers begins.
• What is unstated: The release gave no reading of prices, demand or inventories, and offered no guidance on what the group would do beyond December. It set no condition that would trigger an increase or a further cut.
• Why it matters here: Oil receipts underpin public spending in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman. Holding volumes steady removes one variable from their revenue arithmetic for a third month, leaving price, not quota, as the main source of swing in what they earn.
• Also: The group meets again on 29 November to review conditions.

Background

The seven states announced additional voluntary cuts in two rounds, April and November 2023, on top of the wider OPEC+ framework. Since then they have reviewed those adjustments at monthly meetings, rolling them forward or unwinding them in stages rather than committing to longer horizons.

Between the lines

Three unchanged months and a monthly meeting calendar point to a group managing supply in short increments rather than signalling direction. The absence of any price or demand commentary in the statement, and of any trigger for a future change, leaves the 29 November meeting as the only scheduled moment at which the stance can shift.

What's next

The seven producers meet again on 29 November 2026, days before the December production month begins. Watch whether that session rolls the same level into January or opens the voluntary adjustments to revision.

Source: OPEC