OPEC output falls most in almost two years

Baku. 3 January. REPORT.AZ/ Before its agreement to cut oil supplies even started, OPEC’s production plunged by the most in almost two years last month.

Report informs citing Bloomberg that as a result, oil output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fell 530,000 barrels a day to 32.6 million a day last month.

It’s the sharpest pullback since January 2017, when the group first embarked on its strategy to clear the glut created by rising supplies of U.S. shale oil.

“Slowdown fears” are “putting more pressure on OPEC to stabilize the petroleum markets,” said Phil Flynn, a markets analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. “So let the cuts begin.”

The Saudis curtailed production by 420,000 barrels a day to 10.65 million last month, from a record of just above 11 million reached in November, the survey showed. Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih has promised to cut even deeper this month, going beyond the reductions the kingdom signed up to.