OPEC+ kept its December production targets unchanged at an online meeting on Sunday, 1 November, holding its policy steady while export disruptions linked to the war between the United States and Iran continued to limit shipments from Gulf producers. The decision left the targets for December at the same level as September, and it meant no new increase or cut for the month.
Seven core members took part in the meeting: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman. Together, their December target comes to about 31 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia holds the largest allocation, at about 10.5 million barrels a day, followed by Russia at about 9.9 million and Iraq at about 4.4 million. OPEC said in a statement after the meeting that the seven had agreed to maintain September 2026 required production for December 2026, and that they had repeated their commitment to full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation.
Reuters reported that the decision matched expectations that further policy adjustments would not occur until next year. OPEC+ has been raising output targets for much of 2026, but the meeting on Sunday produced no change for December. OPEC+ comprises the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, and the online meeting started at 1200 GMT, according to one of the people who spoke to Reuters before the meeting. The seven had agreed in principle before the meeting to keep targets steady, according to three people with knowledge of the talks who spoke to Reuters.
OPEC+ decision follows two earlier holds
December is the third month in a row without a change. The seven left targets untouched at earlier meetings for October and November, after completing a larger shift in September. In that month, the group finished unwinding a cut of 1.65 million barrels a day first agreed in 2023. That rollback was phased in over earlier months in 2026, and its completion left the targets at the level now carried into December.
A second layer of cuts, of about 2 million barrels a day and covering most members, remains in place through the end of 2026. The December decision by OPEC+ does not alter that layer. At earlier meetings, OPEC+ kept the targets steady for October and November, so December extends a run of unchanged monthly targets rather than starting a new pattern. It also does not change the ceiling the seven are already working to, since the targets for October and November were set at the same level.
OPEC+ members still pump below targets
Gulf members of OPEC+ have been raising exports that were disrupted for months by the conflict, but most are still pumping well below their targets. The gap between the paper targets and actual output is one reason the decision to hold targets steady does not, on its own, close the gap between what members are allowed to produce and what they ship. Barrels that are allowed on paper still have to reach buyers, and shipments from the region have been interrupted by the war.
Saudi Arabia increased its crude oil exports in October compared with September, despite attacks by Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi forces on its energy infrastructure, Reuters reported, citing two of three ship-tracking companies. The rise in Saudi shipments in October came even as infrastructure in the region came under attack. Brent crude ended October at its highest level in six months, a level reached amid concern about supply from the region.
OPEC+ faces 29 November meeting on 2027 quotas
OPEC+ still needs to complete a review of members’ production capacity during the fourth quarter before it sets the baselines that will determine quotas for 2027. That review shapes plans to unwind the remaining cuts, and the war has disrupted projects to expand capacity across the Middle East, which has made estimates of future production potential harder to pin down. Reuters reported in October that the review was expected to be completed by mid-November.
All 21 members of the wider group are due to meet on 29 November, when the 2027 production framework is on the agenda. Monthly meetings of the seven core members will continue in the meantime, under the commitment restated in the statement after the Sunday meeting. The November meeting will set the framework that follows the December targets held steady on Sunday.