RIYADH: Saudi Arabia told OPEC that it cut oil production by the most in more than eight years, going beyond its obligations under a deal to balance world markets. The kingdom reported that it reduced output by 717,600 barrels a day last month to 9.748 million a day, according to a monthly report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The group’s own analysts, who compile data from external sources, estimated that Saudi Arabia made a smaller 496,000 barrel-a-day cut — in line with last year’s supply agreement.
“OPEC has done particularly well, they’ve surprised most analysts,” Spencer Welch, director of oil markets and downstream at IHS Markit, said in a Bloomberg radio interview before the report was published. “Saudi Arabia has made a particular effort to boost compliance.” OPEC and Russia are leading a push by global producers to end a three-year oil surplus that sent prices crashing and battered their economies. While prices initially rallied 20 percent in the weeks after OPEC’s Nov. 30 agreement, the gains have since faltered on concern that rebounding U.S. output will fill the gap left by OPEC’s cuts.
