Julianne Geiger
OPEC’s crude oil production fell last month to a level not seen in nearly a year, a Bloomberg survey showed on Tuesday.
OPEC’s crude oil production fell 310,000 barrels per day in April to just 28.8 million bpd, the survey said. The group had said at the end of March that it would cut production by another 1.6 million bpd starting in May, but much of April’s small decrease came in the form of unintentional production cuts, with Iraq’s decreased production for the month accounting for about 80% of the group’s total production losses.
Iraq saw its crude oil production decline 250,000 bpd to 4.13 million bpd over a pipeline shutdown that runs from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to Turkey. That pipeline is responsible for carrying about half a million barrels per day. Iraq’s production is at the lowest level since late 2021.
Nigeria saw its production increase by 3.5% in February before sinking 2% in March to 1.517 million bpd. In April, Bloomberg’s survey showed a dip of 120,000 bpd to 1.32 million bpd, partly due to the striking of ExxonMobil workers in the country.
Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission had been confident that its production would continue to increase, eyeing full-year production of 1.69 million bpd as part of its long-term plan to increase production and grow its proven oil reserves to 50 billion barrels. Nigeria’s production target for March was 1.8 million bpd.
OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman, Gabon, and Kazakhstan make up the ones that agreed to cut more production beginning this month.
OPEC+ is set to meet next on June 4, when it will discuss production levels for July 2023 and beyond.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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