BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 9. In January, OPEC+ experienced the most significant decline in crude output in the last six months, with a drop of 340,000 barrels per day, S&P Global said, Trend reports.
This was attributed to certain members implementing voluntary cuts, and protests leading to the shutdown of Libya's largest field for over two weeks, according to the latest survey.
The production decrease, however, fell well short of the approximately 700,000 barrels per day in cuts pledged by the group for the first quarter of 2024. Iraq exceeded its quota, and Kazakhstan, the UAE, and Kuwait also failed to meet their new targets, according to the survey.
OPEC's 12 countries accounted for the majority of the month-on-month production decline, with the core group's output slipping by 310,000 barrels per day. Collectively, OPEC members pumped 26.49 million barrels per day of crude, down from 26.8 million barrels per day in December, excluding Angolan production. Angola left the group in January following a dispute over quota cuts.
Meanwhile, the 10 allies led by Russia, which have been coordinating with the producing group since 2016 to form OPEC+, saw their oil output decrease by 30,000 barrels per day month-on-month to 14.72 million barrels per day. This decline was driven by slight reductions in Omani and Russian production, according to the survey.
