MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Saudi Arabia decided to extend its voluntary reduction in oil output by 1 mln barrels per day (bpd) until the end of 2023, Saudi Press Agency reported, citing an official source in the Kingdom's Ministry of Energy.
Previously, the voluntary reduction was set for July, then prolonged for August and September. At the same time, the according to the statement, the decision to reduce output will be revisited every month in order to examine both further reductions and increases in production.
Saudi Arabia's oil output in October, November, and December will be 9 mln bpd, as in prior months, including the cuts. According to the report, the voluntary decrease of 1 mln bpd is in addition to the earlier decision to lower production by 500,000 bpd. As a result, the kingdom's overall volume of production cuts in September will reach 1.5 mln bpd.
Following an OPEC+ meeting in Vienna on June 4, Saudi Arabia announced a voluntary cut of 1 mln bpd in oil output for July, with the option of extending the measure. According to the Saudi Press Agency, quoting a source in the kingdom's Ministry of Energy, the further cut was a precautionary move aimed at maintaining the oil market's stability and balance.
Furthermore, in May, several OPEC+ countries began voluntarily reducing oil production by a total of 1.66 mln bpd, with Saudi Arabia accounting for a 500,000 bpd. Originally, this measure was supposed to remain in effect through the end of 2023. At the OPEC+ conference, however, all countries that supported the cut agreed to prolong it until the end of 2024.
At the same time, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said earlier on Tuesday that Russia has decided to extend an additional voluntary reduction in oil supplies by 300,000 barrels per day, which was previously passed for September, until the end of 2023. "Russia will extend an additional voluntary reduction in oil supplies to world markets by 300,000 barrels per day until the end of December 2023," he said.
The decision extending the reduction of oil supplies for export by the end of this year "is aimed at strengthening the precautionary measures taken by OPEC+ countries in order to maintain stability and balance of oil markets," Novak added.
In March, Russia started voluntarily reducing oil production by 500,000 barrels per day from the February average. The reduction was extended later to June and finally until the end of the year. After the OPEC+ meeting on June 4 in Vienna the decision on voluntary output cut was extended until the end of 2024. Russia started reducing crude deliveries to global markets by 500,000 barrels per day additionally to production cut obligations in August, whereas in September it started cutting supplies by 300,000 barrels per day.
Novak said last week that Moscow had reached an agreement with OPEC+ countries on new parameters of the reduction in supplies of Russian oil to foreign markets.