OPEC+ countries cut oil output by 250,000 bpd in April, exceed plan by 90,000 bpd

MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax) - OPEC countries in April reduced oil production by 50,000 barrels per day month-on-month to 26.58 million bpd, OPEC said in its monthly oil market report.

OPEC as of this month has begun publishing data on the production of countries participating in the OPEC+ deal, but not members of OPEC, including Russia.

Consequently, OPEC data indicate that non-OPEC countries participating in the deal cut oil production by 198,000 bpd month-on-month to 14.44 million bpd in April, with specifically Bahrain boosting oil output, and Russia and Kazakhstan decreasing oil production.

Accordingly, accounting for quotas for the deal, as well as voluntary cuts by individual OPEC+ countries, Interfax calculations indicate that OPEC countries exceeded the plan by 146,000 bpd in April, and non-OPEC countries produced below the plan by 53,000 bpd, thus all OPEC+ countries exceeded the plan by 93,000 bpd.

Specifically, Kazakhstan exceeded its production promises by about 90,000 bpd in April, and Russia by 190,000 bpd, though both countries reduced production relative to March.

Mexico, which participates formally in the OPEC+ deal, though its quota does not change, produced 120,000 bpd below the 1.75 million bpd quota. Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Sudan, and South Sudan produced less than their respectively permitted volumes, resulting in non-OPEC countries participating in the OPEC+ deal producing 53,000 bpd fewer overall than planned in April.

Meantime, OPEC countries participating in the OPEC+ deal exceeded the plan owing to Iraq that produced 184,000 bpd above the commitments, Saudi Arabia at 50,000 bpd above, Kuwait at 23,000 bpd above, and the United Arab Emirates at 18,000 bpd above.

As reported, "voluntary cuts by a number of OPEC+ countries" by 1.7 million bpd are in effect from May 2023 for all of 2024, as well as additional cuts by the same countries announced for the first and then the second quarter of 2024. Meantime, output reduced by 1.7 million bpd in the first quarter, and Russia cut exports of oil and petroleum products by 500,000 bpd. Russia has been reducing production and exports in different variations by 471,000 bpd since the second quarter. Russia will cut production by 350,000 bpd and exports by 121,000 bpd in April and by 400,000 bpd and 71,000 bpd, respectively, in May; and will reduce production by only 471,000 bpd in June.

Russia's official quota for producing oil within OPEC+ is 9.95 million bpd for 2024, and 9.45 million bpd accounting for the voluntary reduction in production announced in April 2023 for all of 2024. Consequently, Russia's output should total 9.1 million bpd in April, 9.05 million bpd in May, and 8.979 million bpd in June, in line with Saudi Arabia's quota.