OPEC+ reduces oil production by 7.6 mln bpd in March, Russia maintains level, Kazakhstan increases level by 250,000 bpd

MOSCOW. April 13 (Interfax) - OPEC+ countries reduced oil production in March compared to February by 7.59 million barrels per day, to 29.76 million bpd, falling short of the plan by 7.5 million bpd.

According to OPEC data presented in its monthly report, OPEC countries participating in the OPEC+ deal reduced oil production in March by 7.77 million bpd, to 15.49 million bpd (falling short of the OPEC+ plan by 7.3 million bpd). The reduction occurred mainly due to the Gulf countries, which were forced to cut production because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a result of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and Iran's retaliatory attacks on those countries.

In particular, Saudi Arabia reduced oil production by 2.3 million bpd to 7.8 million bpd; production in Iraq fell by 2.6 million bpd to 1.6 million bpd; Kuwait's production decreased by 1.37 million bpd to 1.2 million bpd and the UAE's production declined by 1.5 million bpd, producing only 1.9 million bpd in March.

Iran, which does not participate in the OPEC+ deal, reduced oil production by 180,000 bpd in the first month of the war, producing 3.06 million bpd. Venezuela, which continues to have sanctions lifted by the United States following the change of leadership in the country, increased oil production by 80,000 bpd in March, to 990,000 bpd.

At the same time, non-OPEC countries in OPEC+ managed to increase production by 176,000 bpd, mainly due to Kazakhstan, whose production increased by 250,000 bpd in March to 1.7 million bpd. Kazakhstan therefore exceeded the level permitted under the OPEC+ deal by 780,000 bpd.

Russia symbolically increased oil production by 3,000 bpd to 9.17 million bpd. It lagged behind the permitted level by 407,000 bpd in March.

Data is provided in the table below, in thousand bpd.

Production, Feb. 2026 Production, March 2026 Change month/month Plan, March 2026 Deviation from plan Algeria 973 973 -1 971 2 Congo 274 263 -11 277 -14 Equatorial Guinea 52 51 -2 70 -19 Gabon 216 210 -5 177 33 Iraq 4188 1625 -2563 3856 -2231 Kuwait 2582 1213 -1369 2580 -1367 Nigeria 1442 1463 22 1500 -37 Saudi Arabia 10112 7799 -2314 10103 -2304 UAE 3419 1892 -1527 3233 -1341 OPEC 23258 15489 -7770 22767 -7278 Azerbaijan 458 457 -1 551 -94 Bahrain 152 74 -78 196 -122 Brunei 89 89 0 83 6 Kazakhstan 1482 1733 251 950 783 Malaysia 337 345 8 401 -56 Mexico 1451 1444 -7 1753 -309 Oman 808 799 -9 804 -5 Russia 9164 9167 3 9574 -407 Sudan 22 22 0 64 -42 South Sudan 129 137 8 124 13 non-OPEC 14092 14267 176 14500 -233 OPEC+ 37350 29756 -7594 37267 -7511 Iran 3241 3060 -182 Libya 1259 1251 -7 Venezuela 909 988 79 OPEC+ (total) 42757 35055 -7702