OPEC countries cut oil production in October to 29.49M bpd

OPEC countries in October reduced oil production by 210,000 barrels per day compared to September, to 29.49 million barrels per day, while producing 1.584 million barrels per day less than was allowed by the OPEC+ deal, Report informs referring to the organization’s November report.

“According to secondary sources, the total oil production of 13 OPEC countries in October 2022 averaged 29.49 million barrels per day, which is 210,000 barrels per day more than last month. Oil production increased mainly in Nigeria and Iraq, and decreased in Saudi Arabia and Angola,” the report says.

At the same time, ten OPEC countries that have commitments to limit production under the OPEC+ deal were supposed to return to August levels in October and produce a total of 26.689 million barrels per day. However, they produced 1.584 million barrels per day less, which corresponded to 94% of the level allowed by the OPEC+ deal.

The OPEC+ alliance cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day in May 2020 due to a drop in oil demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Then the terms of the agreement were repeatedly adjusted. In August of this year, the alliance entered the final stage of suspending its cuts.

Under the terms for September, OPEC+ increased production by 100,000 barrels per day, and in October it reduced it by the same volume and was supposed to return to the target levels of August. In November, OPEC+ cuts production by 2 million barrels per day from August levels.

At the same time, a number of OPEC+ countries, due to a natural decline in production, technical issues or external restrictions, are still unable to increase production to the allowed level.