An eight-nation group within the OPEC+ alliance agreed on Sunday to raise crude-oil production by roughly 548,000 barrels a day starting in September, completing the reversal of a 2.2-million-barrel-a-day voluntary cut imposed in 2023. The producers—Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman—approved the increase during a virtual session that lasted just 16 minutes. In a statement, the ministers cited a “steady global economic outlook” and low inventories as justification for accelerating the supply restoration by a full year. The decision lifts production quotas to their highest level in two years and comes after successive monthly increases since April. The coalition said it could pause or reverse the latest hike if demand weakens and will hold another meeting on 7 September to review market conditions, including whether to unwind a further 1.66 million barrels a day of cuts still on the books. Kuwait’s Oil Minister Tareq Al-Roumi called the move evidence of continued coordination to stabilise the market. Oil prices have remained near US$70 a barrel even as additional barrels returned to the market, with money-manager net-long positions in Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures rising by almost 40,000 lots in the week to 29 July. Analysts say the orderly increase suggests traders have so far absorbed the extra supply.