OPEC oil output falls in December on Iran and Venezuela

OPEC’s oil output fell in December due to lower supply from Iran and Venezuela, which offset an OPEC+ agreement to raise production for the month, a Reuters survey found on Friday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 28.40 million barrels per day last month, down 100,000 bpd from November’s revised total, the survey showed, with Iran posting the largest decline.

OPEC+, comprising OPEC and allies including Russia, has slowed the pace of its monthly output increases amid concerns of a supply glut. Many members are running close to capacity limits and some are tasked with extra cuts to compensate for earlier overproduction, limiting the impact of further increases.

Under an agreement by eight OPEC+ members covering December output, the five of them that are OPEC members – Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – were to raise output by 85,000 bpd before the effect of compensation cuts totalling 135,000 bpd for Iraq and the UAE.

The survey shows that the actual increase by the five was 20,000 bpd.