The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, have announced a new round of crude oil production increases for select member nations, again excluding Nigeria.

At a virtual meeting over the weekend, eight countries; Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman agreed to raise their combined output by 206,000 barrels per day starting in May 2026. The move forms part of a gradual rollback of the 1.65 million barrels per day in voluntary production cuts first introduced in April 2023.

OPEC+ emphasized that the production adjustments are flexible and could be accelerated, paused, or reversed depending on global market conditions. The group’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee will closely track compliance and ensure that any overproduction since January 2024 is addressed.

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, remains excluded from the latest production increase. Analysts attribute this to the country’s long-standing challenges in meeting its quota of 1.5 million barrels per day. Recent months have seen Nigeria’s output fall sharply, with 1.45 million bpd in January 2026 and a further decline to 1.3 million bpd in February. While the country occasionally exceeds its quota, such occurrences are infrequent.

An OPEC+ statement following the meeting underscored the commitment of the participating nations to support global oil market stability through coordinated production management.

The decision continues a pattern in which Nigeria has often been sidelined in OPEC+ output adjustments, highlighting the ongoing struggle to maintain consistent production levels.