The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia significantly increased oil production in February ahead of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, while maintaining its forecast for strong global oil demand growth this year.
In its monthly report, OPEC said Saudi Arabia informed the group that its supply to the market in February reached about 10.111 million barrels per day (bpd), while total production rose to roughly 10.882 million bpd, up from 10.10 million bpd in January.
Sources familiar with the matter said the production boost was part of a contingency plan by Saudi authorities to secure global supply in case military action disrupted Middle East oil flows.
The U.S.–Israeli strike on Iran on February 28 later triggered a wider conflict that has disrupted exports and pushed oil prices higher.
OPEC noted that Saudi Arabia has historically intervened in oil markets during periods of disruption, either by raising production to stabilize supply or cutting output when markets face oversupply.
The report also showed that production from the wider OPEC+ alliance, which includes OPEC members and partners such as Russia, averaged 42.72 million bpd in February, an increase of about 445,000 bpd from January, according to secondary sources.
Despite the rise in Saudi production, the kingdom’s “supply to market” figure remained close to its OPEC+ quota because the measure includes exports and domestic refining but excludes crude moved into storage.
Meanwhile, OPEC left unchanged its forecast that global oil demand will grow by about 1.38 million bpd in 2026, maintaining a more optimistic outlook than projections from the International Energy Agency.
The group said geopolitical developments related to the Iran conflict require close monitoring but added that it was still too early to determine their impact on global economic growth and oil demand.
The increase in Saudi and wider OPEC+ output came even as the alliance had agreed to keep official production targets steady during the first quarter of the year.