OPEC+ keeps oil output steady following US capture of Venezuela’s Maduro
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The news: OPEC+ kept oil output unchanged on Sunday (Monday AEDT), reaffirming a November decision to pause production increases in the first quarter, even as political crises across member states intensified.
The context: The meeting came hours after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Trump said Washington would take control of Venezuela “until a transition to a new administration becomes possible”.
The brief meeting of eight members, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, avoided discussion of the political crises affecting a number of the group’s members, according to Reuters.
Trump also said sanctions on Venezuelan crude would remain in place. Elsewhere in the group, tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have recently flared over Yemen after a UAE-aligned group seized territory from the Saudi-backed government and a Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes against a rival group supported by the UAE.
Washington has sanctioned top producers in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and the conflict is also taking a toll on flows from Kazakhstan.
In Iran, Trump wrote on Friday that if Iran killed protesters the US would “come to their rescue”. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump said in a post.
The protests began in Tehran with residents angered by another sharp fall in the rial, with at least eight people reported to have died during the week-long protests.
The media release confirmed the pause in output hikes for January, February and March.
The numbers: Oil prices fell more than 18% in 2025, their steepest annual drop since 2020, when the eight members – Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman – raised output targets by about 2.9 million barrels per day.
What they said: “The countries will continue to closely monitor and assess market conditions, and in their continuous efforts to support market stability,” the group said.
