OPEC and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, announced the decision on Saturday to increase oil output by 548,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, a faster move compared with July.
In July, the OPEC+ countries saw an oil output increase of 411,000 bpd amid a plan to gradually unwind their most recent layer of output cuts.
Saturday's decision was made during a virtual meeting where member countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, reviewed global market conditions and outlook, according to a statement on the OPEC website.
The adjustment was made in view of "a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories," according to the statement, which also noted that the gradual increases may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions.
Initially announced in November 2023, the 2.2 million bpd production cuts were introduced for the first quarter of 2024. The cuts have been extended multiple times since then, with the latest extension pushing them through the first quarter of 2025.
OPEC+ announces quicker-paced oil output hike
China aims to achieve secure and reliable supply of key core artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027, with its industrial scale and empowerment level remaining among the world's forefront, according to a recent government action plan.
The plan, jointly issued by eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission, outlines an ambitious push to deeply integrate AI with the manufacturing sector, foster new quality productive forces and comprehensively empower new industrialization. By 2027, the plan targets the deep application of three to five general-purpose large AI models in manufacturing, the development of specialized, full-coverage industry-specific large models, the creation of 100 high-quality industrial datasets, and the promotion of 500 typical application scenarios.
It also aims to cultivate two to three globally influential ecosystem-leading enterprises, a batch of specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises, and a group of enabling service providers proficient in both AI technology and industry know-how.
Furthermore, China plans to build a world-leading open-source ecosystem, enhance security governance capabilities, and contribute Chinese solutions to global AI development.
The document outlines measures including promoting the coordinated development of AI chips' hardware and software, supporting innovations in model training and inference methods, fostering key industry-specific large models, and deeply embedding large model technology into core production processes.
The plan also emphasizes making breakthroughs in key technologies such as security protection for industrial model algorithms and training data protection.
China aims for secure, reliable supply of AI core tech by 2027
