Opec+ March output sees first fall in 13 months

Opec+ March output sees first fall in 13 months

London, 8 April (Argus) — Production from Opec+ deal participants fell in March for the first time in 13 months, with international sanctions and buyers' reluctance to take crude from Russia beginning to bite into output from the non-Opec leader.

Deal participants' production fell by 190,000 b/d to 38.06mn b/d in March, 1.48mn b/d below the month's target according to Argus' survey. This is the first production retreat since February 2021, when output receded by 770,000 b/d because of an additional 1mn b/d cut implemented by Saudi Arabia.

Most of the March drop was concentrated in Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Russia, although 15 of the 19 Opec+ participants produced below their targets. UAE energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei in late March called for higher oil and gas investment to counter uncertainty over future supply.

"Every country is facing a reduction [in capacity]… natural decline, and we have seen it," he said. "In the Opec+ group alone, we lost 1mn b/d over the year. And God knows this year how many more barrels we will lose."

Russian output declined for the first month in more than a year, signalling international isolation is taking a toll. Its output dropped by 50,000 b/d in the first full month of