NEW YORK, March 10. /TASS/. Four Middle Eastern countries - Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia - have cut their combined oil production by 6.7 mln barrels (mbd) per day amid the crisis, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
According to sources, this measure means that countries also slashed their combined output by a third, resulting in a 6% drop in global oil supplies.
In particular, Iraq cut oil production by 2.9 mbd, Saudi Arabia by 2-2.5 mbd, the UAE by 500,000-800,000 barrels per day (bpd), and Kuwait by around 500,000 bpd. According to Bloomberg calculations, the cuts in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait amount to about 20% to 25% of February production levels, with Iraq being the most affected, although the agency did not provide detailed figures.
Middle Eastern countries are struggling to manage the situation with oil amid the escalating conflict in the region. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil exports pass, has led to overflowing oil storage tanks, forcing countries to reduce production and refining volumes.