OPEC’s Q1 oil output falls below 2017 average: report

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil production in the first quarter of this year was lower by 425,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its 2017 average, Reuters reported, citing Petro-Logistics – a company which tracks OPEC supply.

The decline indicates a strong compliance by OPEC to the 2016 production cut deal, under which the member countries agreed to reduce output by about 1.2 million bpd, with the aim to reduce inventories and shore up prices.

The agreement has been extended until the end of 2018.

The supply from all 14 OPEC countries in the first three months of 2018 averaged 32.27 million bpd, down 425,000 bpd from OPEC’s average daily supply for 2017 as a whole, the report said.

“OPEC-14 supply in the first quarter of 2018 declined to the lowest quarterly level since the production curtailment agreement came into effect some fifteen months ago,” Petro-Logistics said.

According to Petro-Logistics, compared to the first three months of 2017, OPEC supply in the first quarter this year has fallen by 113,000 bpd.