OPEC+ managed to both meet market expectations and deliver a surprise by agreeing to a small rise in crude oil output for December, but then pausing for the first quarter of next year.

The eight members of the exporter group undertaking voluntary production cuts decided at their monthly meeting on Sunday to lift their output target by 137,000 barrels per day (bpd) for December.

This matched market expectations and continued the recent pattern of modest increases seen in October and November.

The eight OPEC+ members, which include heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia, have now raised output targets by about 2.9 million bpd, about 2.7% of global supply, since April.

However, the group said they would pause any increase in targets for the first three months of 2026, despite sticking to th

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