Saudi Arabia to extend voluntary cut of one million barrels per day until end of year

Saudi Arabia on September 5 extended its one-million-barrels-per-day voluntary crude oil production cut until the end of the year.

The reduction will put Saudi crude output near nine million barrels per day over October, November and December and will be reviewed on a monthly basis, according to CNBC.

Riyadh first applied the one million-barrels-per-day reduction in July and has since extended it on a monthly basis. The cut adds to 1.66 million barrels per day of other voluntary crude output declines that some members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have put in place until the end of 2024.

Fellow heavyweight oil producer Russia — which leads the contingent that joins OPEC nations in the OPEC+ coalition — also pledged to voluntarily reduce exports by 500,000 barrels per day in August and by 300,000 barrels per day in September. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on September 5 said that it will extend its 300,000 barrels-per-day reduction of exports until the end of December 2023 and will likewise review the measure on a monthly basis, according to the Kremlin.

The cuts are described as voluntary because they are outside of OPEC+’s official policy, which commits every non-exempt member to a share of production quotas. OPEC Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais has previously said that resorting to voluntary reductions outside of OPEC+ decisions does not suggest divisions in policy views among alliance members.

The Ice Brent futures contract with November delivery was up $1.07 per barrel to $90.07 per barrel at 2:13 p.m. London time, with WTI futures higher by $1.40 per barrel to $86.95 per barrel.