OPEC Members Plan Modest Rise in Output

OPEC Plus announced Sunday it will institute a small bump in oil production next month, even as the group adjusts to the sudden loss of a key member. The alliance said output will be raised in June by 188,000 barrels per day, a limited increase aimed at underscoring that the group considers its operations stable despite the United Arab Emirates' exit, the New York Times reports. The latest move follows earlier, similarly modest quota hikes and comes at a time when the global oil market is already constrained by the war in Iran, which has disrupted supply and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping channel.

Seven core producers—Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman—backed the increase in a display of unity and emphasized in a joint statement that they intend to proceed carefully. The announcement made no reference to the UAE, which had long argued that OPEC production limits held back its exports. "OPEC+ is playing it cool," Jorge León, head of geopolitical analysis for Rystad Energy told the Wall Street Journal. "By sticking to the same production path—just minus the UAE—it's acting as if nothing has happened, deliberately downplaying internal fractures and projecting stability."