Saudi Arabia has boosted oil output to over 10 million barrels per day (b/d), the highest level since October 2017, Bloomberg reported.

The kingdom informed OPEC that its daily production rose by 162,000 b/d to 10.03 million in May.

There has been speculation that Saudi Arabia and Russia plan to propose a gradual increase in production at the June 22-23 OPEC meeting in Vienna. The move would offset any supply disruptions in OPEC members Iran and Venezuela, and bring an end to 18 months of voluntary production cuts.

The Gulf country previously pledged to produce no more than 10.058 million b/d in line with the OPEC sanctioned output cuts. However, Saudi output usually rises in the summer due to higher domestic demand for fuel.