OPEC+ Pauses Oil Output Hikes Amid Middle East Tensions

OPEC+ is likely to pause oil output increases for three months from October, sources say. The group will complete its scheduled return to the market of barrels from voluntary cuts in September.

The pause would leave roughly 2 million barrels per day of OPEC+-wide cuts still in place after September until the group decides how to distribute additional supply among members.

A debate over new production quotas is complicated by competing demands for higher quotas and disruptions from the Iran war, which have sharply reduced the producer group's effective spare capacity.