MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. OPEC+ countries’ crude oil production grew by 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) in December 2024 due to African countries, with output being 930,000 bpd above the target considering voluntary cuts and compensations, International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its January report.
Output saw the largest increase in Nigeria (by 140,000 bpd to 1.51 mln barrels per day). Gabon boosted production by 10,000 bpd to 250,000 bpd, while the Republic of the Congo’s output increased by 20,000 bpd to 260,000 bpd.
The targeted level of production by OPEC+ nations within the deal considering voluntary cuts and compensations from Iraq, Kazakhstan and Russia amounted to 33.72 mln barrels per day (mbd), while real output reached 34.64 mbd, according to the report. This brings the overrun to around 930,000 bpd.
Among the countries exceeding their production commitments the most in December were Iraq (by 340,000 bpd), the UAE (by 310,000 bpd), and Russia (by 300,000 bpd), according to the IEA. Meanwhile Russia cut production by 40,000 bpd to 9.28 mbd in December, the UAE slashed output by 30,000 bpd to 3.22 mbd, while Iraq boosted production by 40,000 bpd to 4.24 mbd, the agency said.
Eight OPEC+ nations, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, have been voluntarily reducing output by a total of 2.2 mln barrels per day since the beginning of 2024 for balancing the market. Since October 2024, those countries planned to start gradually exiting the limitations and restoring production. However, the production increase was first postponed until December and later - by the end of 2024, while a ministerial meeting of OPEC+ on December 5 decided to postpone the increase in output until the end of March 2025. Moreover, a number of OPEC+ states, also including Russia and Saudi Arabia, have been voluntarily reducing output in the total volume of 1.65 mln barrels per day from the spring of 2023 to the end of 2026.
Meanwhile three countries that did not fully carry out their output reduction commitments, including Russia, Iraq and Kazakhstan, are to compensate gradually for insufficiently reduced production volumes by June 2026.