The OPEC+, which gathers the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied crude oil producers led by Russia, has announced new voluntary oil production cuts to support the stability of the global oil market. The new adjustments will reduce global oil production by over 1.65 mb/d as of May 2023 until the end of 2023. Saudi Arabia and Russia will each reduce their production level by 500 kb/d, followed by Iraq (211 kb/d), the United Arab Emirates (144 kb/d), Kuwait (128 kb/d), Kazakhstan (78 kb/d), Algeria (48 kb/d), Oman (40 kb/d), and Gabon (8 kb/d).
In October 2022, the OPEC+ decided to reduce oil production by 2 mb/d in November 2022 from the August 2022 required production level, corresponding to a 4.5% cut in the organisation's total supply, with the aim to support oil prices that have sagged because of recession fears. Accordingly, the production level for the OPEC 10 group members was set at 25.4 mb/d (including 10.5 mb/d each for Saudi Arabia and Russia), that of non-OPEC producers 16.4 mb/d, leading to the production of the OPEC+ to an average of 41.9 mb/d. This production cut extended until the end of 2023.
The new pledges will raise the total production cuts to 3.66 mb/d until the end of 2023, corresponding to over 3% of the global oil demand.