Crude surplus drops to 74 mln barrels in January

Oil stocks surplus in developed OECD member countries has steeply declined to 74 million barrels above the five-year average in January from 340 million barrels in the same month last year, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing Ayed Al Qahtani, OPEC’s head of research.

This is partially attributed to the OPEC-led deal to cut oil production, he added in an industry conference.

OPEC targets reducing oil inventories to the five-year average, although Saudi Arabia has hinted the target could be revised.

The oil cartel agreed to slash output by about 1.2 million barrels per day as part of a deal with Russia and other non-OPEC producers. The deal will remain valid until the end of this year.