Date: 03 May 2020 , 22:59
News ID: 9311

OPEC Crude Output at 30-Year High in April

OPEC’s crude production surged by the most in almost 30 years last month as its biggest members fought to dominate a global market devastated by the coronavirus crisis.
OPEC Crude Output at 30-Year High in April

Saudi Arabia, the organization’s most powerful member, pumped a record of more than 11 million barrels a day as it waged a price war against its former ally Russia, a Bloomberg survey showed.

Though they reached a truce by mid-April, striking a deal to cut vast amounts of supply, the Saudis continued to keep production high for much of the month -- even with demand suffering an unprecedented free-fall.

The kingdom’s surge leaves OPEC nations with an even bigger glut to deal with now, with the brief price war adding almost 100 million barrels of additional supply into an already oversupplied market, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries soared by 1.73 million barrels a day in April, the biggest monthly increase since September 1990.

Data is based on information from officials, ship-tracking data and estimates from consultants including Rystad Energy AS and JBC Energy GmbH.

The organization pumped 30.36 million barrels a day in April -- almost four times the amount they need to produce on average this quarter, data from the International Energy Agency shows. 

In the same month that OPEC opened the taps, world demand slumped by almost 30 million barrels a day as lockdowns to contain the virus grounded flights and froze economic activity.