Commodities
OPEC+ core members set to hold December oil output as Brent sits above $113
Three sources told Reuters the group agreed in principle to leave targets unchanged ahead of an online meeting on Sunday.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Seven core OPEC+ members have agreed in principle to keep December oil production targets unchanged, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. The group, which includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman, is due to discuss the decision at an online meeting on Sunday 1 November. No official statement had been published when HedgeWeekly checked.
The hold would add no barrels to the market. OPEC+ finished unwinding a 1.65 million barrels-per-day cut in September, and a further layer of about 2 million bpd remains in place for most members through the end of 2026. Most members are still pumping below their assigned targets, and Gulf producers are trying to lift exports that have been disrupted for months by the war involving Iran.
Prices are elevated going into the meeting. Brent January futures settled Friday at $113.43, up $2.63, and WTI at $104.12, according to FinanceFeeds. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a supertanker hit a mine on a route they called unauthorised, a claim not independently confirmed, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Hormuz transits are back near pre-conflict levels excluding Iranian barrels.
For funds and allocators, the supply signal is less important than the schedule. OPEC+ is expected to finish a review of member production capacity in the fourth quarter, which will set 2027 baselines and the plan for unwinding the remaining cuts. Before then, the US midterm elections on 3 November and the October jobs report on 6 November are the next scheduled catalysts, and Saxo Bank has flagged the midterms as a source of oil volatility.