The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed to maintain stable oil production at its meeting on Sunday, the group said in a statement.
The agreement comes despite political tensions between key members; Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as the capture of the president of another OPEC member, Venezuela, by the United States.
Sunday’s meeting of the eight OPEC+ members, which produce about half of the world’s oil, came after oil prices fell more than 18 per cent in 2025, their steepest annual decline since 2020, amid growing fears of oversupply.
The eight countries – Saudi Arabia, Russia, UAE, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, and Oman – raised their oil production targets by approximately 2.9 million barrels per day from April to December 2025, which is almost 3 per cent of global oil demand.
In November, they agreed to suspend production increases for January, February, and March.
It was reported that Venezuela was not discussed at Sunday’s brief online meeting.
The eight countries will meet next on February 1, the statement said.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE escalated last month over the decade-long conflict in Yemen, when a UAE-backed group seized territory from the Saudi-backed government. The crisis triggered the biggest rift in a decade between former close allies, as years of diverging views on critical issues came to a head, the publication writes.
OPEC has in the past managed to overcome serious internal disagreements, such as over the Iran-Iraq war, by prioritizing market management over political disputes.
However, the group faces numerous crises, with Russian oil exports under pressure due to US sanctions over Russia’s war against Ukraine, and Iran facing protests and threats of US intervention, the publication writes.
On Saturday, the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and US President Donald Trump said the American government would take control of the country until a transition to a new administration was possible, without specifying how this would be achieved.
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, even larger than those of OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, but the country’s oil production has plummeted due to years of mismanagement and sanctions.