OPEC+ countries exceed Jan oil production plan by 550,000 bpd, despite voluntary cuts - IEA

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - OPEC+ countries produced 34.87 million bpd of oil in January, when they could have extracted 34.32 million bpd had they observed last month's voluntary cuts introduced by some member countries, analysts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

Therefore, the excess production to plan last month totaled 550,000 bpd. The bloc countries reduced oil production 220,000 bpd versus December.

Production by OPEC countries participating in the agreement totaled 21.72 million bpd in January, which is 0.5 million bpd above plan. Non-OPEC countries last month produced 50,000 bpd above the permitted level, reaching 14.79 million bpd (13.15 million bpd without Mexico).

The IEA said that OPEC+ production in January was above the permitted level because several countries did not meet their obligations under additional voluntary cuts that took effect in January. Thus, the UAE produced 300,000 bpd above the required quota, with 3.21 million bpd; Iraq exceeded quota by 230,000 bpd with 4.23 million bpd, and Kazakhstan exceed quota by 150,000 bpd, producing 1.62 million bpd.

Iraq and Kazakhstan announced yesterday that they are ready to compensate the overproduction of oil in January over the next four months.

As reported, new voluntary 2.2 million bpd OPEC+ cuts came into force in January. Several alliance countries announced they would participate after an online meeting at the end of November. Thus, Saudi Arabia will continue to reduce production by 1 million bpd in Q1 2024; Iraq has pledged to further reduce oil production by 223,000 bpd; the UAE has pledged a 163,000 bpd reduction; Kuwait pledged 135,000 bpd; Kazakhstan pledged 82,000 bpd; Algeria promised 51,000 bpd and Oman 42,000 bpd. Russia, in turn, further reduced exports of oil and petroleum products by 500,000 bpd.