By Alex Lawler
LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC+ oil producers on Thursday agreed to voluntary production cuts totaling around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024, led by Saudi Arabia continuing its current voluntary cuts.
This figure includes an extension of existing voluntary cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia by 1.3 million barrels per day, meaning the new element of the cut amounts to approximately 900,000 barrels per day. The new cuts are in addition to previous cuts that have been announced in various steps since the end of 2022.
OPEC+ negotiations on production quotas have often been difficult in the past, most recently at their June meeting.
What cuts were there before Thursday?
OPEC+ in June extended oil production cuts of 3.66 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5% of daily global demand, until the end of 2024.
In addition, Saudi Arabia has implemented a voluntary production reduction of 1 million barrels per day since July, which will last until the end of December 2023. A Russian oil export cut of 300,000 barrels per day will also last until the end of 2023.
HOW DOES THE NEW DEAL AFFECT OUTPUT TARGETS?
The latest round of cuts was announced by the individual countries at the end of their online meeting on Thursday.
OPEC+ issued a statement summarizing the voluntary cuts at 2.2 million barrels per day, saying they are on top of previous cuts announced in April 2023.
OPEC+ also revised its 2024 targets for Nigeria, Angola and Congo following reviews by external analysts. Angola has protested to OPEC over the lower quota for 2024, which it believes is too low.
The following table shows OPEC+’s promised cuts and production targets for the first quarter of 2024 in millions of barrels per day, based on information from OPEC, individual countries and Reuters calculations.
Country Q1 2024 Implied Q1 Output Actual
voluntary cuts Targets for 2024** target after output (October).
committed Q1 2024 2023)*
Algeria 0.051 0.908 0.959 0.96
Angola 0.000 1.100 1.100 1.15
Congo 0.000 0.277 0.277 0.26
Equatorial 0.000 0.070 0.070 0.06
Guinea
Gabon 0.000 0.169 0.169 0.22
Iraq 0.220 4.009 4.22 4.38
Kuwait 0.135 2.413 2.548 2.57
Nigeria 0.000 1.500 1.500 1.35
Saudi Arabia 1,000 9,000 9,978 9.01
UAE 0.163 2.912 3.075 3.25
Azerbaijan 0.000 0.551 0.551 0.49
Kazakhstan 0.082 1.468 1.55 1.63
Mexico 0.000 1.753 1.753 1.67
Oman 0.042 0.759 0.801 0.8
Russia*** 0.500 8.949 9.449 9.53
Bahrain**** 0 0.196 0.196 0.85
Brunei 0 0.083 0.083
Malaysia 0 0.401 0.401
South Sudan 0 0.124 0.124
Sudan 0 0.064 0.064
Total OPEC-10 1.569 22.358 23.896 23.21
Total non-OPEC 0.624 14.348 14.972 14.98
Total OPEC+ 2.19 36.706 38.868 38.19
* IEA figures
**Targets for Angola, Congo and Nigeria from the OPEC statement, placing their feasible production at this level
*** Russia is cutting its oil and products exports by 300,000 barrels per day until the end of 2023 and pledged to deepen cuts to 500,000 barrels per day of oil and oil products exports by the first quarter of 2024.
**** Figure is total for Bahrain, Brunei, Malaysia, Sudan and South Sudan
