The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’) witnessed oil production decline in January for a second consecutive month amid lower output from Nigeria and Iran.
Last month, all 12 OPEC producers saw their combined output drop by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) from December to 26.53 million, according to the Reuters survey of data from oil-flow tracking companies and sources at OPEC, oil firms, and consultants.
According to the report Nigerian production also fell by 60,000 bpd as the country reduced exports. Supply from Nigeria and Iran dropped by 60,000 bpd each, the most among OPEC producers, according to the survey.
Iran, exempted from the ongoing OPEC+ cuts, reduced output by 60,000 bpd, and analysts expect further losses ahead as U.S. President Donald Trump restored the “maximum pressure” campaign on the Islamic Republic with the aim to drive its oil exports to zero.
OPEC’s top producer Saudi Arabia saw its output slightly drop in January from December, the Reuters survey found, along with Iraq, the second-largest producer in the cartel. Iraq, however, has a lot of compensation to do over the next year, after having pumped above its quota in the OPEC+ agreement so far.
The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), the OPEC+ panel monitoring the oil markets, this week praised Iraq for its improved compliance with the cuts.
The JMMC meeting on Monday was a routine affair in which the panel did not recommend any changes to the current OPEC+ plan to begin gradually unwinding the cuts in April 2025.
The JMMC doesn’t take decisions on production levels—these are taken by the OPEC+ ministerial meetings.
At the previous OPEC+ ministerial gathering in December, the alliance decided to delay the start of the easing of the 2.2 million bpd cuts to April 2025, from January 2025. The group also extended the period in which it would unwind all these cuts into the following year, until September 2026.
