NATIONAL NEWS

OPEC+ countries to boost oil production by 547,000 barrels per day

Aug 3, 2025, 11:06 AM

FILE -The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is seen outside of O...

FILE -The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is seen outside of OPEC's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Lisa Leutner, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — A group of countries that are part of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries has agreed to boost oil production, a move some believe could lower oil and gasoline prices, citing a steady global economic outlook and low oil inventories.

The group met virtually on Sunday and announced that eight of its member countries would increase oil production by 547,000 barrels per day in September.

The countries boosting output, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, had been participating in voluntary production cuts, initially made in November 2023, which were scheduled to be phased out by September 2026. The announcement means the voluntary production cuts will end ahead of schedule.

The move follows an OPEC+ decision in July to boost production by 548,000 barrels per day in August. OPEC said the production adjustments may be paused or reversed as market conditions evolve.

When production increases, oil and gasoline prices may fall. But Brent crude oil, which is considered a global benchmark, has been trading near $70 per barrel, which could be due to a potential loss of Russian oil on the market and a large rise in crude inventories in China, according to research firm Clearview Energy Partners.

“President Trump has not obviously relented from his threat to sanction Russian energy if the Kremlin does not reach a peace deal with Ukraine as of August 7, potentially via “secondary tariffs” on buyers,” Clearview Energy Partners said in an analyst note Sunday.

The eight countries will meet again on Sept. 7, OPEC said in a news release.

National News

Associated Press

Federal appeals court sides with New York state over truck driver’s licenses for immigrants

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Transportation Department wrongly decided to withhold nearly $74 million in highway money from New York state after it refused to revoke nearly 33,000 questionable commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants when an audit revealed problems last year, a federal appeals court said Friday. A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. […]

27 minutes ago

Associated Press

Supreme Court will consider Trump’s executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider President Donald Trump’s ban on asylum at the southern border, a pillar of the Republican president’s far-reaching crackdown on immigration. The Trump administration wants to overturn lower court decisions that found the executive order banning asylum applications is illegal. Federal law gives people the right […]

1 hour ago

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship is stacked and prepared for a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Thurs...

Associated Press

SpaceX aims for first double catch of Starship in its most ambitious test flight yet

SpaceX is launching Starship into orbit on Friday in its boldest test yet: a 22-hour flight that aims to recapture the entire rocket in a move meant to accelerate moon and Mars travel. If all goes well, the massive booster will return to its Texas pad six minutes after blasting off and the bullet-shaped spacecraft […]

3 hours ago

FILE - AK-47 ammunition sits on a table in front of 18 alleged members of the drug cartel El Mileni...

Associated Press

Brother of slain Mexican cartel leader is sentenced to 22 years in prison for drug trafficking plot

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man whose slain brother led one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels was sentenced Friday to more than 22 years in U.S. prison for his part in a sprawling drug trafficking conspiracy that brought cocaine and methamphetamine to American streets. Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, the brother of the Jalisco New Generation co-founder […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., attends a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Secur...

Associated Press

Who is Chris Van Hollen, the senator challenging Chuck Schumer to be majority leader?

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who became an early face of Democratic resistance to President Donald Trump in the Republican’s second term in the White House, has emerged as a challenger to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer as their party picks a Senate majority leader. Van Hollen, a two-term incumbent who previously represented the state […]

3 hours ago

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference in St. Cloud, Minn. o...

Associated Press

Bessent blames Commerce’s Lutnick for not restricting Nvidia chip exports to China

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday he was frustrated with the Commerce Department’s delay in implementing controls over the export of certain Nvidia chips to China. Bessent said on CNBC that his department, along with the departments of State and Defense and the U.S. Trade Representative, were in favor of adding Megaspeed […]

4 hours ago

OPEC+ countries to boost oil production by 547,000 barrels per day