Opec’s crude oil production fell by 130,000 b/d in January to 26.60mn b/d, its lowest since May 2024, driven by outages at Iraq’s largest oilfield. There were also sizeable production drops in Nigeria, and notably Iran, which is in the spotlight as US President Trump vows to exert ‘maximum pressure’ on its oil exports.
Iraqi output dropped by 90,000 b/d last month as a fire at the Rumaila field on 24 January knocked out 300,000 b/d of production (MEES, 31 January), and output is set to remain capped at 900,000 b/d for some time, although Iraq has spare capacity elsewhere which can be brought on to compensate. State marketer Somo says that losses have since been compensated by spare capacity from Basrah Oil Company. CEO Bassem Abdulkareem placed his firm’s spare capacity at 200,000 b/d last month. (CONTINUED - 825 WORDS)
