MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. OPEC+ countries increased oil production by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February, lagging behind the alliance's production target by 1.72 million bpd, according to the March report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The volume of oil production by the members of the alliance increased by 160,000 bpd compared to January and reached 38.38 million bpd. However, the target level of production by OPEC+ countries for February was 40.1 million bpd. Thus, the deviation from the plan turned out to be 1.72 million bpd.
According to the IEA, in February, Russia slightly increased oil production (excluding gas condensate) - by 130,000 bpd up to 9.91 million bpd, producing 570,000 bpd below the plan. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia increased production by 60,000 bpd to 10.47 million bpd, which is 10,000 bpd behind the target set by OPEC+ agreements.
In October 2022, the countries participating in the OPEC+ agreement agreed to cut production by 2 million barrels per day from the level of November, and also extended the deal until the end of 2023.
Production quotas as of August 2022 were taken as the basis for calculating the reduction in oil production. At a meeting on December 4, the countries of the alliance decided to keep the current plan for oil production.
At the meeting on February 1, the OPEC+ Monitoring Committee did not recommend changes in production quotas.
The OPEC+ monitoring committee will hold its next meeting on April 3, 2023, and the general meeting of the alliance is scheduled for June 4, 2023.