On Friday, December 1, oil prices continued to fall as OPEC+ producers agreed to voluntary cuts in oil production for the first quarter of next year, which fell below analysts’ expectations.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, and some members of OPEC+ have agreed to cut oil production by about 2.2 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2024. This agreement was made on Thursday and is voluntary. These countries are responsible for pumping more than 40% of the world’s oil.
Saudi Arabia and Russia decided to reduce oil production by 1.3 million barrels per day as an extension of their voluntary cutbacks. This goes against the statements made by some former OPEC+ delegates, who suggested the possibility of new additional cuts of up to two million barrels per day.
Regarding the new reductions, a total of 900 thousand barrels per day will be reduced. Out of this, 200 thousand barrels per day will be reduced from fuel exports from Russia, while the rest will be reduced by 6 other members. The UAE has decided to reduce production by 163 thousand barrels per day, while Iraq will reduce production by 220 thousand barrels per day.
Brent crude futures experienced a decline of approximately 0.4% to $80.53 per barrel in trading. This can be attributed to the fact that the crude had recorded monthly losses of more than 5% since November.
US crude oil futures decreased by 0.2% to $75.79 per barrel.
