Alex Lawler

Oil producer ‌group OPEC+ posted a sharp gain in production in September, OPEC said on Tuesday, driven by an increase from Saudi Arabia despite ongoing disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz caused by the ​Iran war.

The West's energy watchdog will meet next week to work out the details of a diesel stock ‌release as market confusion grows over how many barrels Europe and the US plan to make available to address shortages and record-high prices, sources said.

The delay throws estimates of future production potential into uncertainty.

Saudi Arabia will run out of oil stocks for exports ‌if it doesn't restart its major pipeline to the Red Sea within days, Saudi oil buyers and traders said.

Global oil supply and demand look set to fall further ‌than previously expected this year, the International Energy Agency said on Friday, as a lack of progress in ending the conflict in the Middle East delays the return of normal Gulf oil flows into 2027 and sends fuel prices soaring.

OPEC oil ‌output fell in August, a Reuters survey found, as Saudi exports ​faced new disruption due to ​the war in Iran and ⁠a U.S. blockade cut Iran's ​shipments.

Oil prices topped $100 a barrel on Wednesday for the first ​time in six weeks as an escalation in fighting by U.S. and Iranian forces deepened concerns over supply from the region and raised fears of inflationary ‌pressures and higher energy costs for consumers and businesses.

Six months into the Iran war, the world's most powerful oil alliance, OPEC+, finds itself in an unfamiliar position: unable to ​influence a market it once helped shape.

OPEC oil ​output rose further in July, a Reuters survey ‌found, as Gulf members restored supplies that were shut due to the Iran war and effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

OPEC on Monday lowered its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2026 to 780,000 barrels per day, a copy ​of its monthly report showed, marking the third straight downward revision.