13 March 2024 - 15:36
  • News ID: 639143
OPEC: Iran retains position as third-largest oil producer

SHANA (Tehran) – The Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) showed that Iran has regained its position as the third-largest crude oil producer in February.

According to the report, Iran’s February oil output decreased 15,000 barrels compared to a month earlier, standing at 3.148 million barrels per day (bpd), following top producer Saudi Arabia and Iraq, respectively.

Despite the voluntary production cuts of several major producers of the OPEC+ alliance, OPEC’s oil production rose in February by more than 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared to January, driven by higher production in Libya, which is exempted from the OPEC+ supply cuts.

Crude oil production from all OPEC members jumped by 203,000 bpd from January to 26.57 million bpd in February, MOMR showed on Tuesday. 

The biggest increase in output came from Libya, which has been exempt from the OPEC+ cuts due to its unstable security situation, as well as from Nigeria, which has underperformed compared to its quotas in recent years, due to a lack of investments and frequent sabotages and theft on onshore pipelines.

Libya has restored oil production at its largest oilfield, Sharara, which was shut down for three weeks in January by protesters, oilprice.com reported.

In February, Libya’s oil production rose by 144,000 bpd, while Nigeria’s output increased by 47,000 bpd compared to January.

OPEC’s top producer, Saudi Arabia, produced 8.98 million bpd last month, in line with its pledge to keep output at about 9 million bpd after promising a one-million-bpd cut that has been in place since last summer.

But the second-biggest producer of the group, Iraq, pumped around 200,000 bpd more than its pledge to keep production at 4 million bpd, as it only reduced output by 14,000 bpd, according to the secondary sources in OPEC’s report. Iraq’s oil production averaged 4.2 million bpd last month, per the sources. 

News ID 639143

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