Oil Prices OPEC Plus Crude Oil — An oil tanker sails near the Strait of Hormuz, a route central to global crude shipments.

OPEC+ Oil Output Increase Fails to Lift Global Supply

OPEC+ oil output increase for August largely stays on paper as Hormuz disruptions persist

By Desk Assistant On Jul 6, 2026

OPEC – (Web Desk) – Oil prices dipped slightly on Monday after OPEC and its allies agreed to another OPEC+ oil output increase starting in August, adding pressure to already soft global prices.

Brent crude slipped 24 cents, or 0.33%, to $71.88 a barrel early Monday. This came after the contract had gained 0.45% on Friday.

US West Texas Intermediate crude eased slightly too, trading at $68.58 a barrel, down 11 cents. There was no Friday settlement for WTI since US markets stayed shut for the Independence Day break.

Both oil benchmarks stayed mostly flat last week. Traders were watching talks between the US and Iran over the safety of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, alongside a slow recovery in Gulf oil exports.

On Sunday, OPEC and partner nations, including Russia, agreed to raise supply targets by 188,000 barrels per day from August. This adds to earlier hikes already planned for June and July.

Still, this OPEC+ oil output increase remains mostly theoretical. The recent conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz to tankers for weeks, limiting output from major producers like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq.

Market analyst Tony Sycamore from IG said the latest OPEC+ decision was expected. He noted that with the UAE’s exit and output still recovering from the war, the numbers may not carry much real weight right now.

The UAE formally left OPEC on May 1 this year.

Gulf nations have slowly restarted exports halted during the Iran conflict. Reuters data shows OPEC output jumped by 3.3 million barrels per day in June, reaching 19.43 million bpd — its best recovery in over two decades.

Gulf exports also rose sharply, climbing more than 3 million barrels from May to top 10 million bpd in June. However, that’s still 40% below levels seen before the war began.

Meanwhile, Russian oil exports from western ports hit record highs in June. Industry sources expect this trend to continue into July, as Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries have pushed Moscow to export more crude instead of refining it domestically.