00:01A group of seven OPEC-plus producers said on Sunday they would raise output by a combined 188,000 barrels
00:09a day next month,
00:11a restrained increase that comes as oil trades near its pre-war levels for the first time since the Iran
00:17war began.
00:18It is the fifth consecutive month that members of the alliance have agreed to open the oil taps a little
00:24wider.
00:25The decision taken at a virtual meeting involves Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman
00:33and continues the gradual unwinding of voluntary cuts the same countries announced back in 2023.
00:40Commercial traffic through the strait, which carried around a fifth of the world's oil before the war,
00:45has been recovering, though it remains well short of pre-conflict levels.
00:49And Tehran warned only last week that tankers staying from its approved routes would face a forceful response.
00:57For much of the war, the alliance's monthly increases existed largely on paper.
01:02With the strait effectively closed, Middle Eastern producers were forced to slash out output
01:08as unsolved barrels piled up and regional storage ran out of room,
01:12leaving real production far below the group's stated quotas.
01:16The gradual reopening is now releasing that black log onto the market,
01:21amplifying the downward pressure on prices well beyond the modest official increments.
01:26However, the rebuild will take time.
01:28That's great.
01:31Thank you very much.
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