OPEC+ running 2.16 mln bpd behind oil production plan in March - IEA

MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - OPEC+ countries produced 37.94 million bpd of oil in March, while under the terms of the agreement, they can extract up to 40.1 million bpd, International Energy Agency analysts (IEA) said.

The shortage to plan for last month is 2.16 million bpd compared to February, alliance member countries reduced oil production by 460,000 barrels per day.

Production in March by OPEC countries party to the agreement reached 24.55 million bpd in March, which is 870,000 bpd below required production levels. Non-OPEC countries last month produced 13.39 million bpd, 1.29 million bpd below the permitted level of 15.08 million bpd.

Russia still lagged 900,000 bpd behind the quota by the end of March, with oil production of 9.58 million bpd. Angola is also significantly behind plan by 490,000 bpd with a total production of 970,000 bpd, while Nigeria is off 470,000 bpd with a March production figure of 1.27 million bpd.

IEA analysts called the decision from a number of alliance countries to make "voluntary cuts" in oil production a "Sunday shock." Nine of the 20 countries participating in the April 2 OPEC+ deal announced voluntary coordinated cuts in oil production of 1.7 million bpd from May to the end of 2023.

"Oil market balance sheets were already set for a substantial deficit in the second half of this year, but new cuts risk tightening them further and pushing up oil prices at a time when inflationary pressures are already hurting vulnerable consumers - especially in the economies of emerging and developing countries," the report says.

In addition to Russia, which announced an extension of the decision to reduce oil production by 500,000 bpd from July until the end of 2023, Saudi Arabia is reducing production by 500,000 bpd, the UAE by 144,000 bpd , Iraq by 211,000 bpd, Kuwait by 128,000 bpd, Kazakhstan by 78,000 bpd, Algeria by 48,000 bpd, Oman by 40,000 bpd and Gabon by 8,000 bpd.