OPEC+ Oil Supply Plunges By 1.2 Million Bpd As Saudi Arabia Cuts Output

By Tsvetana Paraskova of Oilprice.com

Oil supply from the OPEC+ group dipped in July by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to 50.7 million bpd, the lowest level in nearly two years as Saudi Arabia began its unilateral production cut of 1 million bpd, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.  

The alliance’s oil production was down by more than 2 million bpd from the start of the year. Over the same period, oil producers outside the OPEC+ group increased their combined production by 1.6 million bpd to 50.2 million bpd. For the rest of the year, the non-OPEC+ production gains are expected to be limited, the IEA said.

OPEC alone saw its crude oil production from all its member states fall by 836,000 bpd to 27.31 million bpd in July, due to a 968,000 bpd decline in Saudi output as the Kingdom nearly delivered its promised 1-million-bpd cut last month. Saudi Arabia, leader of the cartel and the OPEC+ agreement, saw its crude oil production slump by 968,000 bpd from June to average 9.021 million bpd in July, per OPEC’s secondary sources in its latest monthly report. Due to Saudi Arabia’s cut, the Kingdom’s crude oil production has now fallen below the production of Russia, the key partner of OPEC in the OPEC+ alliance.   

Global oil supply plunged by 910,000 bpd to 100.9 million bpd in July, as the Saudi cut more than offset a 310,000 bpd increase in non-OPEC+ supply to 50.2 million bpd last month, the IEA’s estimates showed.

This year, global oil output is set to rise by 1.5 million bpd to a record 101.5 million bpd, with the U.S. driving gains of 1.9 million bpd from non-OPEC+ producers. Next year, non-OPEC+ supply is also set to dominate world supply growth, and is expected to increase by 1.3 million bpd while OPEC+ could add just 160,000 bpd, the agency said.