OPEC downgraded its outlook for the global oil market a few days before ministers meet, amid faltering demand and signs of a recovery in supply from U.S. shale drillers. The figures raise questions about the group’s decision to ease production cuts last month. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries added 760,000 barrels a day to global markets in August, just as its analysts were revising down demand for its crude by more than 1 million barrels a day.

Oil prices slipped further below $40 a barrel in London on Monday, close to their lowest in more than two months, as companies from BP Plc to Trafigura Group made ominous predictions about consumption.

OPEC+, the 23-nation alliance spanning cartel nations like Saudi Arabia and non-members such as Russia, had agreed to taper some of the supply cutbacks made during the depths of the pandemic amid expectations that economic activity was recovering.