Oil alliance OPEC+ zeroes in on group compliance after postponing output hike
Dilara Irem Sancar | Anadolu | Getty Images
The OPEC+ alliance is once more cracking down on group compliance with oil output cuts, as it presses ahead with a three-pronged plan of formal and voluntary production trims.
Two OPEC+ delegates, who could only comment anonymously because of the sensitivity of the talks, told CNBC that the coalition has sharpened its focus on the conformity of its members with their output pledges, amid repeat overproduction from heavyweight members such as Iraq and Kazakhstan.
Russia, whose barrels are sanctioned in the West and transported with lower visibility across a shadow fleet, has also at times exceeded its assigned quota under the alliance’s formal policy, one of the sources said.
Eight OPEC+ members, including kingpin Saudi Arabia, were due to begin returning 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts to the market starting in October. Earlier this month, they postponed this phaseout to start in December instead. OPEC+ nations are operating two other production declines: under official policy, they will produce a combined 39.725 million bpd next year. The same aforementioned eight members are separately curbing their output by another 1.7 million bpd throughout 2025, also on a voluntary basis.
Undercompliance has been a repeat bane of the OPEC+ alliance, casting a shadow over the credibility of its intentions to cut output – at a time of market uncertainty exacerbated by war in the hydrocarbon-rich Middle East, recent stock sell-offs and a fragile post-Covid recovery in the world’s top crude importer, China.
Oil prices have remained subdued for the better part of the year and dropped sharply on Thursday, following a Financial Times report stating that OPEC+ de facto leader Saudi Arabia was prepared to suffer through a low-price environment and abandon an unofficial $100 per barrel price target to bolster its output after December.
Brent crude futures with November expiry were trading at $71.44 per barrel at 2:30 p.m. London time, down 0.17% from the Thursday settlement. The front-month November Nymex WTI contract was at $67.75 per barrel, flat from the previous session’s close.
“I would read it more as the Saudis sending some warning to the cheaters within OPEC. Because I think Saudi Arabia has seen most of the burden of the production cuts,” Carole Nakhle, founder and CEO of Crystol Energy, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy Friday, referring to the FT report.
Speaking of the group’s possible approach to price targeting, Nakhle added, “Of course, the higher the better for them, but nothing has been set in stone.”
OPEC+ ministers, including Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, have previously insisted that their policies target diminishing global stocks rather than an explicit price, although decisions to tighten supplies typically offer support to crude futures in the long term. But several member countries, including the Saudi kingdom, underpin their annual budgets on the assumption of a fiscal break-even price — which the International Monetary Fund estimates must hit $96.20 for Riyadh to meet its obligations this year.
Riyadh is locked in an extensive and costly program spanning 14 giga-projects, including the futuristic desert development Neom, to materialize Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambition of economic diversification away from reliance on hydrocarbon revenues.
Despite the economic pressures of enforcing the Vision 2030 program, Saudi Arabia has yet to change its OPEC+ approach and does not target an explicit oil price, one of the OPEC+ sources told CNBC, noting that Riyadh can reshape its budget or shore it up through alternative, non-oil revenues.
Earlier this month, Saudi Minister for Investment Khalid al-Falih pushed back against lingering skepticism over the country’s economic diversification plan, touting “green shoring” investment opportunities to lure foreign financing.
The prospect of Saudi Arabia weaponizing its vast production capacity to settle OPEC+ disputes is not without precedent. Back in 2020, Riyadh and Moscow engaged in a weeks-long price war in the wake of the abrupt but fleeting dissolution of the OPEC+ alliance, flooding the market at a time of already excess supply and dried-up demand amid the spreading Covid-19 pandemic — and briefly ushering WTI futures into negative territory.
OPEC+ receives monthly production figures — which assist it to calculate member compliance — from seven independent secondary sources. The coalition’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, a technical group that oversees OPEC+ conformity, is due to next meet on Oct. 2.
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Kenworth has announced the addition of Bendix’ Fusion advanced driver assist system (ADAS) to its line of options on the T680 line of Class 8 commercial semi trucks – a lineup that includes the Next Generation T680E battery electric semi truck.
One of the many new trucks revealed at the 2025 ACT Expo in Anaheim, California earlier this year, the Next Generation Kenworth T680E featured the latest advancements in battery-electric technology, an enhanced exterior design, and a suite of new, in-cab technology that extends to the addition of three Bendix Fusion version: ADAS, ADAS PRO, and ADAS PREMIER.
All three of the announced ADAS packages offer updated Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with ACC Stop and Auto Go™, a new Pedestrian Autonomous Emergency Braking (PAEB) feature, and a new High Beam Assist feature to reduce the likelihood of blinding oncoming drivers supported by the addition of a new forward-looking camera.
Those updates are in addition to the ADAS units Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Multi-Lane Autonomous Emergency Braking, Highway Departure Braking (HDB), and Stationary Vehicle Braking (SVB), Lane Departure Warning, and Bendix® Blindspotter® Side Object Detection already available on previous versions of the ADAS-equipped Kenworth.
Kenworth migital mirrors
Now that we’ve got that acronym-loaded word-salad out of the way, we can get to the point: the newest generation of electric trucks is easier and safer to drive – and not just safer for the truck’s operators, but for the people who share the roads with them, too.
Kenworth T680E electric semi
The Next-Generation T680E is available with up to 605 peak hp and 1,850 lb-ft of torque from a PACCAR Integrated ePowertrain fed from a 500 kWh li-ion battery pack good for more than 200 miles of loaded range. The updated Class 8 BEV is rated up to 82,000 lb. gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR), and can get that load back up to speed quickly with a 350 kW peak charge rate that means the T680E can charge up to 90% in just two hours.
That system isn’t just more efficient than the first generation truck, it’s also more serviceable than it was before.
“This move to a fully integrated and ground-up PACCAR design means we were able to design for enhanced serviceability,” explains Joe Adams, Kenworth’s chief engineer. “Providing easier access to the Master Service Disconnects for improved safety and increased uptime and allowing the use of the DAVIE service tool for troubleshooting and diagnostics.”
The Next Generation Kenworth T680E electric semi truck is designed for short and regional-haul, LTL, and drayage operations. It’s available as a day cab as either a tractor or straight truck in a 6×4 axle configuration.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth; via Kenworth.
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Just like it says on the tin – retailers are advertising killer deals on the fun-to-drive Kia Niro EV, with one midwest auto dealer reporting more than $10,000 off the sticker price of the Niro EV Wind. That’s nearly 25% off the top line price!
SKIP THE STORY: get straight to the deals.
The Kia Niro EV gets overshadowed by its objectively excellent EV6 and EV9 stablemates – both of which are currently available with substantial lease cash and 0% APR financing, in fact – but that doesn’t mean it’s not an excellent little electric runabout in its own right.
The last time I had a Niro EV tester, my kids loved it, I liked that it was quicker and more tossable than I expected it to be, and my wife liked the fact that “it doesn’t look electric. It looks normal.” And, with well over 200 miles of real world range (EPA-rated range is 253 miles), it was more than up to the task of commuting around Chicago and making the trip up to the Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee and back without even needing to look for a charger.
It’s not the primary family hauler I’d choose – but as a second car? As a primary car for a slightly smaller family (1-2 kids, instead of 3-4)? The Kia Niro EV Wind, with a $42,470 MSRP, seems like a solid, “can’t go wrong” sort of choice. You know?
You won’t even have to pay that much, though. Raymond Kia in Antioch, Illinois is advertising a $42,470 Niro EV for $32,431 (that’s $10,039, or about 24% off the MSRP), and several others are advertising prices in the $33,000 range.
And, while we’re at it:
Kia Niro EV gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: CarsDirect, Edmunds, Raymond Kia.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. The best part? No one will call you until after you’ve elected to move forward. Get started, hassle-free, by clicking here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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