Opec+ holds 2026 oil output steady, agrees to assess capacity mechanism

Opec+ countries agreed to maintain group-wide oil output quotas for 2026 in a meeting on Sunday, and also agreed on a mechanism to assess members’ maximum oil production capacity, Opec said in a statement.

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Eight Opec+ countries, holding a separate meeting on Sunday, also have an agreement in principle to maintain a pause in their output hikes for the first quarter of 2026, an Opec+ source and a person familiar with Opec+ talks said earlier.

The meeting of Opec+, which pumps half of the world's oil, comes during a fresh US effort to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, which could add to oil supply if sanctions on Russia are eased. Ministers have started a series of online meetings, two sources said.

If the peace deal fails, Russia could see its supply curbed further by sanctions. Opec+ has paused oil output hikes for the first quarter of 2026 after releasing some 2.9 million barrels per day into the market since April 2025.

The group still has about 3.24 million bpd of output cuts in place, representing around 38 of global demand, and the Sunday meeting did not alter those.

Opec said the group had approved a mechanism to assess members’ maximum production capacity to be used for setting output quotas from 2027.

Three delegates from the group had said on Saturday that Opec is likely to leave oil output levels for the first quarter of 2026 unchanged at its meetings on Sunday, moderating a push to regain market share amid fears of a looming supply glut.