OPEC+ Holds November Quota at 31.01 Million Barrels Daily

OPEC decided on Sunday to maintain its oil production quota for the upcoming month at 31.01 million barrels daily, which aligns with market expectations. This decision comes after the organization scrapped earlier production cuts to counteract the supply shortage in the Middle East. The total production for October and November is set at 31.01 million barrels per day for the eight OPEC members under the quota.

However, in August, the group only produced 25 million barrels daily, significantly below its quota. Most of the production cut reductions that have occurred since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran have been on paper, as the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked for months. Now, there are reports that oil exports through Hormuz have resumed at pre-war levels, but OPEC production remains below its own quotas.

Giovanni Staunovo, a UBS commodity analyst, stated, "The OPEC group of seven kept their production ceilings unchanged, in line with market expectations. That said, despite rising flows through the Strait of Hormuz, their output levels remain well below quota." Consequently, the oil market is still tight. The discrepancy between Hormuz's rising oil flows and OPEC's production levels could be due to storage releases or increased export volumes.

According to Kpler data cited by Reuters, the seven-day average for the Middle East, including Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, and the Bab El-Mandeb in the Red Sea, was 18.5 million barrels daily as of October 1.