RIYADH — The eight OPEC+ countries have agreed an increase in production by 206,000 barrels per day (bpd) from May. The eight countries—Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman— took this decision in their virtual meeting held on Sunday to review global market conditions and outlook. “In their collective commitment to support oil market stability, the eight participating countries decided to implement a production adjustment of 206,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the 1.65 million barrels per day additional voluntary adjustments announced in April 2023. This adjustment will be implemented in May 2026,” the OPEC+ said in a statement after the meeting.The 1.65 million barrels per day may be returned in part or in full subject to evolving market conditions and in a gradual manner, the statement pointed out. “The countries will continue to closely monitor and assess market conditions, and in their continuous efforts to support market stability, they reaffirmed the importance of adopting a cautious approach and retaining full flexibility to increase, pause or reverse the phase out of the voluntary production adjustments, including reversing the previously implemented voluntary adjustments of the 2.2 million barrels per day announced in November 2023,” the group stated. The eight OPEC+ countries also noted that this measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation. The countries reiterated their collective commitment to achieve full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including the additional voluntary production adjustments that will be monitored by the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC). They also confirmed their intention to fully compensate for any overproduced volume since January 2024.