Saudi Arabia, Russia and five other key members of OPEC+ agreed in an online meeting Sunday to boost oil production by 188,000 barrels a day from September, against a backdrop of disruption caused by the Mideast war.

“The seven participating countries decided to implement a production adjustment of 188 thousand barrels per day,” they said in a joint statement.

The increase, decided by the key countries in the enlarged Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was widely expected by analysts.

“OPEC+ has finished unwinding its voluntary cuts. The next challenge is managing the surplus that could emerge as export flows normalise,” said Jorge Leon, analyst at Rystad Energy.

He warned, however, that “today’s decision changes little in the near term because (the Strait of) Hormuz remains constrained. The real market impact will come when normal export flows resume.”

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The Gulf countries have struggled to increase exports due to the near-paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz orchestrated by Iran during the war in the Middle East — despite a brief upswing in shipping traffic after a US-Iran memorandum of understanding was signed in June.

Many OPEC+ members cannot produce as much oil as their official targets allow due to a “decline in production capacity”, so increasing targets has become less meaningful, said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS.

The September increase, agreed by OPEC+ countries Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, completes the unwinding of the second of the three production-cut packages introduced by the organisation.

“Having completed the restoration campaign, OPEC+ has little incentive to rush into further supply changes. Our base case is a fourth-quarter pause while the group prepares for the 2027 quota negotiations,” said Rystad Energy’s Leon.

“For now, geopolitics is masking the scale of the supply increase. That will become much clearer once export flows normalise,” he said.

It remains unclear when the group will actually be able to increase its oil volumes. Some member countries, such as Iraq, have expressed a desire to significantly boost production.

Russia, though, is confronted with repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on its oil infrastructure that have crimped production, currently hovering around nine million barrels per day — compared with a target of 9.8 million barrels per day.

OPEC+ “faces potentially difficult talks over new production quotas” starting next year following the September increase, according to analysts at DNB Carnegie.

Between late 2022 and 2023, OPEC+ became concerned that oil prices were falling, and agreed to cut oil production in three separate rounds, reducing total output by nearly six million barrels per day.

But Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — before the latter’s exit from the group on May 1 — then changed their strategy by gradually upping production starting in 2025.

“I don’t think cohesion is at risk at this very moment,” said Leon, warning, however, that the UAE’s withdrawal from the group in May has highlighted a weakness in this area.

Courtesy – AFP

Troops of the Nigerian Army have rescued an abducted senior military officer, Lt.-Col. Ofor Amobi, and a civilian, Mr. Ikechukwu Onwuanra, after a 10-day joint search-and-rescue operation in Enugu State.

A military operational report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday said the victims regained their freedom in the early hours of Friday after sustained pressure mounted on their abductors.

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According to the report, the operation was carried out by troops of Sector 1 of Operation UDO KA, comprising personnel of the 82 Division Garrison, 103 Battalion (Reinforced), the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, and the 197 Special Forces Battalion.

The report stated that the troops, led by the Commander of the 82 Division Garrison, conducted intensive search operations across the forests and communities of Inyi, Awlaw, and Akpugo-Eze in Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The military said the breakthrough came at about 2:00 a.m. on Friday, when troops received intelligence from the Divisional Police Officer of the Inyi Division on the whereabouts of the victims.

Acting on the intelligence, the troops immediately launched a fighting patrol to the location, where the abducted officer and the civilian were found abandoned at the edge of a forest in Inyi.

According to the military, both victims had sustained gunshot wounds and were promptly evacuated to the 82 Division Medical Hospital for treatment and medical evaluation.

Preliminary interrogation revealed that the victims had been blindfolded, transported to an unknown location and later abandoned in a forest along the Enugu-Anambra border.

The report quoted the military as saying, “The victims attributed their rescue to the sustained pressure mounted by the joint troops, which denied the kidnappers freedom of movement and compelled them to abandon their captives.”

The military added that further details of the operation would be made available later.

An Abuja businessman has appealed for help after alleging that his business premises in the Federal Capital Territory were demolished without prior notice, leaving him with huge financial losses and hundreds of people without jobs.

The businessman made the claim in an emotional video shared on X, formerly Twitter, saying he borrowed £75,000 while living in the United Kingdom to return to Nigeria and invest in the country in response to government appeals to Nigerians in the diaspora.

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According to him, the property, which was completed barely a year ago, was suddenly demolished when bulldozers arrived at about midday without any official warning or notice.

“Around 12 or 1 in the afternoon, bulldozers just came. Nobody gave me notice. I took a loan from the UK, £75,000, to come and invest in Nigeria. You people said we should come back from the diaspora to invest in Nigeria.

“I’ve never done any government contract. I don’t know anybody in government. I came with my own money from the UK to invest here.”

The businessman said the demolition left him devastated, particularly because he is still repaying the loan used to finance the investment.

He disclosed that the facility directly employed 84 workers, while businesses operating within the premises provided livelihoods for about 300 others, all of whom have now been affected by the demolition.

Expressing frustration over the incident, he said he was considering leaving the country.

“As I’m talking right now, I’m thinking of counting my losses, packing my things, tearing my Nigerian passport and going back. I have friends who have destroyed their Nigerian passports because of things like this.”

He questioned the government’s commitment to job creation, insisting that the demolition had rendered hundreds of people unemployed.

“In this place alone, about 300 people have been rendered jobless. And you people say you’re creating jobs? Is this how you create jobs?”

The businessman, however, did not identify the government agency or authority responsible for demolishing the property in the video.

The video has since generated widespread reactions on social media, with many Nigerians expressing sympathy for the businessman and calling for greater protection of investments, particularly those made by Nigerians returning from the diaspora.