OPEC pumped 26.03 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in June—up by 590,000 bpd from May, the cartel said on Thursday as it predicts demand for its crude at 27.7 million bpd this year, suggesting that the market would need more OPEC oil. In its closely watched Monthly Oil Market Report —especially after the rift between the key OPEC members Saudi Arabia and the UAE—the organization said that crude oil output rose mainly in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Angola, Iran, and Kuwait. The Beginning of a Trend? June was the second month in which OPEC gradually eased the production cuts—and the Saudis have been unwinding their unilateral extra 1 million bpd over three months to end-July. So, in June, OPEC’s top producer and the world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, pumped 8.906 million bpd, up by 425,000 bpd compared to May, according to OPEC’s secondary sources. The UAE […]