In January, OPEC+ started to pare back oil output in an effort to blunt sagging global crude prices, Business Insider reported.
Last month, OPEC and its allies slashed daily oil production by more than 400,000 barrels. The biggest output cuts came from Iraq and Kuwait. Libya scaled back production by 25%. As a result, output from the alliance fell to 26.57 million barrels per day.
Iraq reduced daily output by 130,000 barrels to pump 4.2 million barrels per day. However, the country’s production level remained about 200,000 barrels per day above the agreed ceiling.
The bulk of the decline in oil supply stemmed from mounting tensions caused by protests in Libya, which led to a complete shutdown of production at the country's largest oil field. Against this background, its crude oil production dropped by 25%.
Nevertheless, recent projections suggest that global oil supply will increase by 1.5 million to 103.5 million barrels per day in 2024, driven by record-setting output from non-OPEC countries such as the United States, Brazil, Guyana, and Canada.