Key Takeaways
May 3, 2026 · 3 min read · By Rishabh Bhardwaj
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Opec+ agreed Sunday to raise collective oil output targets by 188,000 barrels per day in June, its third straight monthly increase, but the move has almost no practical effect while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed due to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The war, which began on February 28, shut down the strait that funnels oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE. Those four countries were the only Opec+ members with meaningful spare production capacity. With the strait blocked, higher quotas cannot translate into higher physical supply. Saudi Arabia's June quota, for example, rises to 10.291 million barrels per day, against actual reported production of just 7.76 million bpd in March.
The hike is essentially a two-part message. First, Opec+ wants to show the market it is still functioning normally after the UAE formally left the group on May 1. The June increase matches what was agreed for May, minus the UAE's share, making the exit look orderly rather than destabilising. Second, it signals that the group intends to ramp supply back up the moment the strait reopens, rather than locking in the current tightness as a new normal.
Jorge Leon, an analyst at Rystad and a former Opec official, framed it directly: this is less about adding barrels and more about signalling that Opec+ still controls the agenda. The seven members who participated Sunday, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Oman, represent the inner decision-making circle now that the UAE has departed. Opec+ as a whole has 21 members, including Iran.
Crude output across all Opec+ members averaged 35.06 million bpd in March, down 7.70 million bpd from February, with Saudi Arabia and Iraq accounting for the largest drops. That supply shock has pushed oil prices above $125 per barrel, a four-year high. Analysts are now warning of widespread jet fuel shortages within one to two months and a broader spike in global inflation.
Even after the strait eventually reopens, oil executives and traders say it will take several weeks to months for export flows to fully normalise, meaning the supply gap will not close quickly even once the military conflict ends.
Watch for any ceasefire or negotiated pause in the US-Israeli campaign against Iran as the trigger that could turn these paper quota hikes into real barrels. Until then, the production decisions coming out of Opec+ meetings are largely forward guidance, not current supply policy.
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