OPEC increased oil production in January

Oil production of OPEC member countries in January rose by 240,000 barrels per day compared to December, to 25.45 million barrels per day, Report informs, referring to the monthly report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The indicator grew on the relaxation of restrictions on the OPEC+ deal in January. Thus, non-OPEC countries participating in the agreement increased their oil production monthly by 120,000 barrels per day, to 14.59 million.

The new OPEC+ deal started in May 2020 with a reduction in oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day. Since August, the alliance has reduced the curbs to 7.7 million, and in January, it agreed on reductions of 7.2 million.

OPEC+ agreed to make decisions on further production monthly, for now, depending on market conditions, but in increments of no more than 500,000 barrels. At the same time, under the conditions of January 5, only Russia and Kazakhstan will increase production in February and March. As a result, the overall reduction will soften to 7.125 million barrels per day and 7.05 million barrels per day, respectively.

Thus, in January the alliance executed a deal to limit oil production by 103 percent, which is the highest figure since June last year, while OPEC countries complied with their commitments by 108 percent, countries outside OPEC by 94 percent, and Russia by 95 percent, according to the IEA.

"OPEC+ production curbs were eased by 500,000 barrels per day in January, helping to boost compliance to 103 percent, the highest since June," the IEA wrote.