OPEC+ Meets Sunday on December Output as Oil Ends October Up Double Digits and Grain Futures Slide

Seven core members of OPEC+ are scheduled to meet online on Sunday, November 1, 2026, to decide oil production targets for December, after crude prices finished October with double-digit monthly gains. Three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on October 27 that the group is likely to keep its December targets unchanged, though they said no final decision had been made.

The subgroup, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed at its October 4 meeting to keep required production for November at September 2026 levels and set November 1 as the date of its next review. OPEC+ completed the rollback of a 1.65 million-barrel-per-day supply cut in September, Reuters reported, and another layer of cuts of about 2 million barrels per day remains in place for most members through the end of 2026.

Gulf producers have been raising exports that were disrupted by the Iran war, but most are still pumping below their targets, according to Reuters. The group must also complete a review of members' production capacity before setting the 2027 baselines that will be used to calculate future quotas. OPEC+'s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee is scheduled to meet on November 29, according to a meeting calendar compiled by World Oil Monitor.

Crude's October gain

Brent crude's December contract expired on Friday, October 30, settling up $2.76, or 2.4%, at $117.64 a barrel after touching $118. Oil prices settled at their highest levels since the end of April. The more actively traded January Brent contract rose $2.63 to $113.43. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $2.12, or 2.08%, to $104.12, Reuters reported.

For October, Brent rose approximately 13.6% and WTI 15.2%, according to Kitco News, the fourth consecutive monthly gain for both benchmarks, Arabian Post reported. Reuters linked Friday's rise to another tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz and to claims by Yemen's Houthi movement of attacks on Saudi energy facilities, and said traders were weighing the risk of further escalation after the U.S. midterm elections on November 3.

Supply indicators were mixed. Saudi Arabia's crude exports rose in October from September, according to two of three ship-tracking companies cited by Reuters, and the number of U.S. oil rigs rose by two. In Libya, the National Oil Corporation said an armed group shut a valve on the Hamada pipeline, halting output of about 15,000 barrels per day.

Some forecasters have raised their price expectations. ANZ increased its year-end Brent projection by $10 to about $105 a barrel, and a survey of 32 economists and analysts put the average 2026 Brent forecast at $92.88, up from $89.05 in the previous poll, with the WTI average at $86.60 compared with $83.90, Arabian Post reported.

Fuels and natural gas

Among refined products, November RBOB gasoline futures settled 3.99% higher at $3.3120 a gallon, their third straight gain, and November heating oil rose 1.15% to $4.7905 a gallon, according to official settlements compiled by The Edge. December natural gas moved the other way, slipping 1.83% to $2.898 per million British thermal units.

Grains, softs and copper

Agricultural futures settled mostly lower on Friday. December corn fell 0.78% to 447.75 cents a bushel, December wheat eased 0.04% to 603.50 cents and January soybeans dipped 0.04% to 1,234.25 cents, their fifth straight daily decline, The Edge reported. Based on Yahoo Finance front-month data, corn ended October about 10.6% below its September 30 close of 500.75 cents, and wheat about 10.7% below 675.75 cents.

December coffee was the main agricultural gainer, rising 0.61% to 287.20 cents a pound and ending a run of six declines. Cocoa slipped 0.05% to $5,453 a ton, March sugar fell 0.56% to 19.36 cents a pound and December cotton lost 0.85% to 77.83 cents.

Industrial metals weakened alongside precious metals. December copper on Comex fell 1.83% to $6.4820 a pound, and every metal tracked by The Edge closed lower on the day.

With the December Brent contract expired, January becomes the front-month Brent contract when trading resumes on Monday, November 2, after the OPEC+ decision is known.