OPEC oil production declines in December as Saudis cut production

At the announcement of the agreement by OPEC, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al Falih initially announced that his country's production would fall to 10.7 million euros. bpd in December, after a record high of 11.1 million bpd in November. The Saudis are targeting another drop to 10.2 million bpd this month, Falih said.

The decline in OPEC production has been compounded by supply disruptions in Libya and Iran.

Production in Libya fell from 172,000 barrels a day to 928,000 barrels a day in December, after a group of armed protesters and injured workers took over the country's largest oil field.

In Iran, production fell by 159,000 barrels a day, to just under 2.8 million barrels a day, as the country enters its second month of the year under a wide range of sanctions. United States. The Islamic Republic moved from the third largest producer to OPEC in fifth place, behind the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in December.

Iraq experienced the largest increase in production in the last month of the year. Its production has increased by 88,000 barrels a day to just over 4.7 million barrels a day. At this level, Baghdad is expected to reduce about 200,000 barrels a day in January to meet its quota under the supply reduction agreement. Iraq, the second largest producer of OPEC, has regularly exceeded its quota in the last round of group supply cuts.

The month of December is OPEC's first monthly report since Qatar left the organization while its neighbor, notably Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is currently blocking the Gulf country. .

Excluding Qatar, OPEC expects the group's oil demand to average 30.8 million bpd in 2019, about 900,000 bpd lower than last year. OPEC oil demand dropped by about 1.2 million bpd last year, the group said.