MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. The OPEC Secretariat has called on the media to more accurately cover the organization's reports, adding that participants in OPEC+ retain full flexibility in pausing or reversing the return of voluntary production adjustments in 2026.
OPEC drew attention to a publication by Reuters of November 13. Referring to OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) published on 12 November, the agency wrote that "OPEC said it expected the supply surplus next year because of wider production increases by OPEC+, a group of producers that includes OPEC members and allies like Russia," the organization said in a statement.
"This reference cannot be attributed to OPEC as it was not included in OPEC’s November MOMR. Such an interpretation neither reflects the content of the report nor can it be inferred from the MOMR. The report does not make any statement or forecast regarding a supply surplus next year, nor does it provide an assessment that would support that conclusion. Any such inference is the result of external interpretation and is not contained in the published analysis," according to the statement released on OPEC’ website.
"To reiterate, participants in OPEC+ retain full flexibility in pausing or reversing the return of voluntary production adjustments in 2026," the organization noted.
Since the beginning of 2024, eight OPEC+ countries, among them Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Oman and Kuwait, have voluntarily reduced oil production by a total of 2.2 mln barrels per day (mbd). From April 2025, they began gradually returning these volumes to the market, having completely exited the voluntary cuts by 2.2 mbd by September, a year ahead of the original plan.
In October, these countries began a phased rollback of another voluntary cut of 1.65 mbd as they agreed to increase production by 137,000 barrels per day (bpd). A decision was also made to boost production by 137,000 bpd for November and December 2025. That said, in the first quarter of 2026, the eight OPEC+ members will pause further production increases.
The organization encouraged stakeholders, analysts and media to refer directly to OPEC’s official reports for accurate presentation of data and findings.