…As Daily Crude Price Rises to $85.50/Barrel

By Sunkpa Ilop

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC+ in March reported the biggest decline in their collective production in 10 months.
According to data by Energy Intelligence, Nigeria and Russia recorded much production drop making the Organizations overall output to fall by 680,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 37.64 million bpd.
Russia, which said it was cutting oil production in March, as well as Nigeria accounted for most of the OPEC+ oil production drop. Declines in Russian and Nigerian oil production accounted for 440,000 bpd, or two-thirds, of the March drop in OPEC+ output, according to Energy Intelligence.
In March, oil production from the OPEC+ group fell to levels last seen in May 2022, with the alliance 2.5 million bpd below its targeted collective production quota. That is the largest gap between overall quota and actual production since October last year, per Energy Intelligence’s assessment.
Just after the end of March, several major OPEC+ producers, led by the top producers in the Middle East, announced on April 2 a total of 1.16 million bpd of fresh production cuts between May and December this year.
Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader and top global crude exporter, will cut 500,000 bpd and said that the move was “a precautionary measure aimed at supporting the stability of the oil market.”
Apart from Saudi Arabia, OPEC heavyweights Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait, plus OPEC’s Algeria and Gabon, and non-OPEC Oman and Kazakhstan, announced the 1.16 million bpd cut. That’s on top of Russia’s current 500,000 bpd cut which was extended until the end of the year.
From within OPEC, Iraq is set to cut 211,000 bpd of its supply, the UAE – 144,000 bpd, and Kuwait 128,000 bpd. Added to the Saudi cut of 500,000 bpd, nearly 1 million bpd of supply from the Middle East will disappear from the market as of next month.
meanwhile, the price of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of thirteen crudes stood at $85.50 a barrel, compared with $85.17 the previous Thursday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.
The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), and Rabi Light (Gabon).
Others are Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basrah Medium (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).
Oil prices edge higher ahead of a busy day of macroeconomic releases. Brent crude oil is up 0.3% at $85.84 a barrel while WTI gains 0.2% to $81.71 a barrel.
Investors are largely sitting tight ahead of U.S. inflation data due later in the day.
The figures are expected to show inflation continued to ease in March, which would be good news for Federal Reserve officials and likely to shape their views on the future path of interest rates.
Minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting are also set to be released, offering greater insight into the central bank’s thinking on inflation and monetary policy.