By John Ikani
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) reported a significant drop in their collective oil production in March, marking their largest decline in 10 months.
Energy Intelligence data shows that Nigeria and Russia were the primary contributors to the overall production decrease, resulting in a drop of 680,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a total of 37.64 million bpd for the organization.
Russia had previously announced cuts to their oil production for the month of March, and along with Nigeria, accounted for two-thirds of the OPEC+ oil production decrease, equating to a 440,000 bpd decline, according to Energy Intelligence.
The OPEC+ alliance saw oil production levels drop to May 2022 lows in March, with a significant gap of 2.5 million bpd below their targeted collective production quota, according to Energy Intelligence.
Just after March, top OPEC+ producers from the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, announced a new round of fresh production cuts, amounting to a total of 1.16 million bpd between May and December 2023.
Saudi Arabia, as the de facto leader of OPEC and a global crude exporter, will reduce their output by 500,000 bpd, calling it a “precautionary measure aimed at supporting the stability of the oil market.”
Other major OPEC+ members, including Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Algeria, and Gabon, in addition to non-OPEC members Oman and Kazakhstan, also announced production cuts.
These new cuts are in addition to Russia’s current 500,000 bpd cut, which was extended through the end of 2023.
Iraq, the UAE, and Kuwait, the largest OPEC producers after Saudi Arabia, will reduce their oil supply by 211,000 bpd, 144,000 bpd, and 128,000 bpd, respectively.
When combined with Saudi Arabia’s cut, nearly 1 million bpd of supply from the Middle East will be removed from the market starting next month.
