OPEC+ countries reduce oil production in August

OPEC reduced oil production by 197,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August compared to July, bringing the total output to 26.6 million bpd.

Production increased in Nigeria, Congo, and Venezuela, while it declined in Libya, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media. 

OPEC+ countries that are part of OPEC (with only nine OPEC countries agreeing to cut production) increased output by 9,000 bpd in August, reaching 21.48 million bpd—exceeding their planned quotas by 336,000 bpd. Iraq, in particular, surpassed its quota by nearly 320,000 bpd. Non-OPEC members of the OPEC+ alliance reduced production by 107,000 bpd in August, bringing their total output to 14.068 million bpd.

This was 260,000 bpd below the allowed level due to reduced production in Mexico, Azerbaijan, Sudan, and South Sudan. Kazakhstan cut production by 115,000 bpd but still exceeded its allowed quota by 30,000 bpd. Russia also reduced output by 30,000 bpd, exceeding its quota by 80,000 bpd. Besides the official quotas set by the alliance, eight OPEC+ countries have implemented voluntary additional cuts. 

The reduction of 1.65 million barrels per day (bpd), announced in April 2023, will remain in effect until the end of 2025. Some 2.2 million bpd cut, announced in November 2022, is scheduled to last until December 2024, after which it will gradually phase out on a monthly basis over the course of the following year.

Three countries—Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia—exceeded their declared production levels in the first half of 2024 and are required to gradually compensate for this overproduction by September 2025. However, in August, Iraq and Kazakhstan submitted new schedules to account for unmet commitments from July. Iraq exceeded its obligations by 1.44 million bpd over seven months, while Kazakhstan surpassed its quota by 700,000 bpd. 

Following the most recent OPEC+ meeting of the eight countries in early September, it was noted that Iraq and Kazakhstan will also need to compensate for the excess production in August. Consequently, these countries may be required to further reduce oil production by additional 350,000 bpd by September 2025.