OPEC oil output hits new low in April on Hormuz export disruption, Reuters survey finds

LONDON: OPEC oil output dropped further in April to the lowest in more than two decades, a Reuters survey found, as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz and forced export cuts.

Crude output by the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in April fell by 830,000 barrels per day month-on-month to 20.04 million bpd, the survey found. March’s figure was revised 700,000 bpd lower due to a change in the Saudi estimate.

Eight members of the OPEC+ producer group, which includes OPEC plus allies including Russia, had agreed to resume oil production hikes in April, although the outbreak of the Iran war on February 28 and effective Hormuz closure made it impossible to deliver on the agreement.

Kuwait experienced the group’s biggest drop in production in April, reflecting a whole month of disruption to exports, the Reuters survey found.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq also had further declines, although the United Arab Emirates was the only Gulf member able to increase production. Like Saudi Arabia, the UAE has an export route bypassing Hormuz and tanker data shows higher UAE exports in April.

April’s output is the lowest by OPEC since at least 2000, excluding membership changes since then according to Reuters surveys, and is significantly below the levels reached during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when demand collapsed.

Besides the UAE, which left OPEC with effect from May 1, Venezuela and Libya also raised output during April, the survey found.

The Reuters survey is based on flow data from financial group LSEG, information from other companies that track flows, such as Kpler, and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consultants.