The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produced 32.97 million b/d on average for November, down 11,000 b/d from October, secondary sources to the cartel reported Dec. 12 in its Monthly Oil Market Report.
Saudi Arabia’s production climbed by 377,000 b/d from October to November to reach 11.01 million b/d.
The Saudi production increase was offset by supply declines from Iran—whose oil exports are under US sanctions—as well as Venezuela, Nigeria, and Iraq.
The latest report comes after OPEC and some non-OPEC countries announced a 1.2 million-b/d cut in production starting Jan. 1, 2019 (OGJ Online, Dec. 7, 2018). The cut is based on October production levels.
OPEC countries agreed to cut production by 800,000 b/d, while Russia and nine allied producers collectively will cut 400,000 b/d.
The production cut was agreed upon in OPEC’s efforts to support oil prices, which have declined about 30% since early October. Analysts blamed recent price declines on oil investors’ concerns about rising world oil supplies.
