OPEC+ expected to keep oil production stable, sources say | World

Sunday’s meeting, attended by eight members of OPEC+, the group responsible for about half of global oil production, comes after oil prices fell more than 18% in 2025, the biggest annual decline since 2020, amid growing concerns about oversupply.

The eight countries – Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman – raised their production targets by around 2.9 million barrels per day between April and December 2025, a volume equivalent to almost 3% of global oil demand. In November, they agreed to suspend production increases in January, February and March.

OPEC and officials from Saudi Arabia and Russia did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on Sunday’s meeting.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which support opposing sides in Yemen’s nearly decade-long conflict, escalated in late 2025 when a UAE-aligned group seized territory in the country’s south belonging to the Saudi-backed government. So far, OPEC+ sources have not indicated that the dispute could affect Sunday’s negotiations.

OPEC has often maintained its cohesion even during serious internal divisions – such as during the Iran-Iraq war – by prioritizing market management over political conflict.

The United Arab Emirates announced it would withdraw its remaining forces from Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a demand for Emirati troops to leave the country within 24 hours, in one of the most serious public rows between the two Gulf oil producers.

On Friday, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government launched what it called a peaceful operation aimed at retaking military positions from southern separatists backed by the Emirates, who in turn said seven Saudi airstrikes had taken place since the announcement.