Four key Opec+ producers, including the UAE, pledged deeper compensation cuts throughout the first half of 2026 as the Saudi Arabia and Russian-led group pressed members to improve compliance in an oversupplied market.
Iraq, the UAE, Kazakhstan and Oman submitted updated compensation plans to the Opec secretariat, to make up for excess production accrued since January 2024, the group said on Wednesday.
The reductions will total 829,000 barrels per day by June, which is a three-fold increase from the 267,000 bpd the producers cut in December.
Kazakhstan will account for the largest share of the increase, with its cutbacks totalling 669,000 bpd by June, from 131,000 bpd in December. Baghdad, which frequently overproduces its quota within Opec+, will maintain cuts at a 100,000 bpd level by midyear.
The UAE’s compensation volumes will rise from just 10,000 bpd in January to about 55,000 bpd by June. Oman, one of the Gulf’s smallest producers, will make average compensation cuts of about 5,700 bpd over the six-month period.
The compensation plan comes three days after Opec+ kept oil output unchanged, as global oversupply risks collided with the removal of Venezuela's president and the US takeover of the Opec producer’s energy assets.
Opec exercised caution the day after the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, as potential Venezuelan output could add to rising supply amid weak demand. After boosting production by 2.9 million bpd since last April, the group has paused further increases for the first half of this year.
The supply dynamic has been complicated by the US intervention and a plan announced on Wednesday by President Donald Trump to sell 30 million-50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude with an estimated value of $2 billion.
Brent, the benchmark for about two thirds of global crude, held steady, rising 0.12 per cent to $60.77 a barrel at 6.22pm UAE time on Wednesday. Meanwhile, US crude futures for West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.16 per cent to $57.03 a barrel.
