Saudi crude output to fall to 9.8 million bpd in March

LONDON: Saudi Arabia plans to produce around 9.8 million barrels per day of oil in March, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told the Financial Times.

Exports would fall in March to 6.9 million bpd, according to the Financial Times article published on Tuesday.

The March production figure means Saudi would be cutting output by more than 500,000 bpd below its pledged production level under an OPEC-led deal to curtail production which came into effect at the start of 2019.

Under the deal reached in December, Saudi Arabia's target production is 10.311 million bpd.

Production in March would also be 1.2 million bpd lower than November output, which was an all-time high.