OPEC’s Oil Production Rose in November as Libyan Output Jumped
Crude oil production from all OPEC members rose by 104,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November compared to October, the organization’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) showed on Wednesday.
Total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.66 million bpd last month, as output in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria increased, according to OPEC’s secondary sources used to track supply to the market.
Of the three countries where production rose the most in November from the previous month, two – Libya and Iran – are exempted from the OPEC+ production cuts due to political instability and Western sanctions, respectively.
In November, Libya’s crude oil production jumped by 141,000 bpd to 1.238 million bpd, according to OPEC’s secondary sources.
Recently, Libya’s oil output hit an 11-year high of over 1.4 million bpd, after recovering from the dip in September due to the field blockades over a row about the leadership of the Central Bank of Libya, the only internationally recognized depository of Libya’s oil revenues.
Production in Iran rose by 37,000 bpd to 3.323 million bpd in November, per OPEC’s secondary sources.
The third OPEC producer exempted from the cuts, Venezuela, saw its output decline by 20,000 bpd.
Among the biggest OPEC members, the top producer and de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, continued to keep its pledge to pump “around 9 million bpd”—its oil production averaged 8.963 million bpd in November, down by 10,000 bpd from October.
OPEC’s second-largest producer, Iraq, saw its output drop by 45,000 bpd to 4.043 million bpd—reflecting efforts to fall in line with its quota, which is 4 million bpd.
The rise in OPEC’s production for November comes as the OPEC+ group, comprising OPEC and a dozen non-OPEC producers led by Russia, last week decided to delay the start of the easing of the 2.2 million bpd cuts to April 2025, from January 2025. The group also extended the period in which it would unwind all these cuts into the following year, until September 2026.