OPEC countries oil production-down about a third

Crude oil production in the major Gulf Arab exporters plunged in March due to the Iran war, according to data released by OPEC.

Iraq took the biggest hit with production collapsing 61% from 4.2 million barrels per day in February to 1.6 million bpd in March, according to OPEC’s monthly report. Output plunged 53% in Kuwait and 44% in the United Arab Emirates month over month, the data showed.

Production in Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer, dropped 23% from 10.1 million bpd to 7.8 million bpd.

But the pipeline, which has a capacity of 7 million bpd, recently came under attack by Iran. The assault cut the pipeline’s capacity by 700,000 bpd.

Overall, OPEC’s production plunged 27% month over month from 28.7 million bpd to 20.8 million bpd.

At the same time, OPEC said that global oil demand may grow by 1.4 mln barrels per day (bpd) and reach 106.53 mln bpd.

The forecast for demand growth in the second quarter of this year was revised downward for OECD and non-OECD countries, which is driven by a temporary slowdown of oil demand growth due to developments in the Middle East.

OPEC expects oil demand growth by 1.34 mln bpd to 107.87 mln bpd in 2027.