The output subindex climbed to 56.3 in March from 51.8 in February, also reaching its highest level since July 2019 but still below the series average of 57.3.
Brent crude futures for June fell 33 cents, or 0.5pc, to $64.53 a barrel by 0206 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for May was at $61.20 a barrel, down 25 cents, or 0.4pc.
In addition, Saudi Arabia has volunteered to cut its own output by one million barrels per day (bpd) to help avoid oversupplying a market suffering from a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
OPEC+ has lowered its oil demand growth forecast for this year by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), a report from its experts panel meeting seen by Reuters showed.
Under existing curbs, OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and non-OPEC producers, led by Russia, have cut just over 7 million barrels per day (bpd), while Saudi Arabia has made an additional voluntary reduction of 1 million bpd.
The stronger dollar and rising yields, along with expectations of a strong economic recovery, sapped demand for safe-haven bullion and pushed gold prices lower.
More than 127.43 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally, and the death toll is approaching 3 million, according to a Reuters tally.
The market is getting some support from expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will maintain lower output levels when they meet this week.