OPEC+ keeps December oil quotas at 30.9 million barrels
The group's combined target stays at 30.9 million barrels a day, but Saudi Arabia pumped 8.3 million in September against an allowed 10.5 million while the Strait of Hormuz is closed.
Seven members of OPEC+ have agreed in principle to leave their production targets for December unchanged, according to three sources familiar with the talks who spoke to Reuters. The online meeting took place on Sunday, November 1, 2026, and the combined target is 30.9 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman were at the table. The available reports contain no official statement on the outcome of the meeting.
How much are members actually pumping against their quotas?
The December quotas are 10.5 million barrels a day for Saudi Arabia, 9.9 million for Russia, 4.4 million for Iraq and 2.7 million for Kuwait. Together, those four countries have a target of 27.5 million barrels a day. The remaining 3.4 million (the gap between 30.9 and 27.5) is shared by Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman, and the individual quotas of those three are not given in the available sources.
Actual output is far below the paper figures. Saudi Arabia pumped 8.3 million barrels a day in September, according to a report by the International Energy Agency, which is more than two million less than it is allowed. Data for the other members is from July: Russia produced 8.96 million barrels a day, Iraq 2.62 million and Kuwait 1.90 million. All seven members together stood at about 24.3 million barrels a day in July.
Why can’t the Gulf reach its target?
The cause is the war with Iran. Restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have been in place since the conflict began on February 28, 2026, and on October 26 Iran’s Revolutionary Guard formally declared the strait closed. Gulf members therefore cannot export the volumes their quotas allow.
Saudi Arabia has one export route left, the 1,200 kilometer East-West pipeline to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. Its capacity is about 7 million barrels a day, of which about 5 million is exported. A quota of 10.5 million barrels a day thus exceeds, even on paper, what the only open export channel can carry.
What comes after December?
OPEC+ finished the gradual unwinding of its 1.65 million barrel a day production cut, agreed in 2023, in September. An additional cut of about 2 million barrels a day, which covers most members, runs through the end of 2026.
The full ministerial meeting is set for November 29. The agenda includes a review of members’ production capacity, which determines the baselines and so the quotas for 2027. The sources do not say where the meeting will be held. The United Arab Emirates left OPEC+ in May 2026 over a dispute about quotas.
Where is the oil price?
The Brent contract for December delivery closed on Friday, October 30, at $117.64 a barrel, a gain of $2.76 in a single day. American benchmark crude, WTI, closed at $104.12. Brent rose about 13.6% in October.
Leaving the quotas unchanged does not alter the physical supply: while the strait is closed, Gulf members cannot deliver the barrels their quotas permit.
