Saudi extends voluntary oil cut of 1 mn barrels per day until mid-2024

Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday it would extend oil supply cuts through June as part of a bid to prop up prices.

An energy ministry source said Riyadh "will extend its voluntary cut of one million barrels per day, which was implemented in July 2023, until the end of the second quarter of 2024," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

"Afterwards, in order to support market stability, these additional cut volumes will be returned gradually subject to market conditions."


The decision was taken "in coordination with some OPEC+ participating countries," referring to the 23-member bloc Riyadh co-leads with Moscow.

The extension was announced the same day Russia said it would cut its production by almost half a million barrels in the second quarter of 2024.

Riyadh first announced its voluntary cut after an OPEC+ meeting in June 2023.

It followed a decision in April 2023 by several OPEC+ members to slash production voluntarily by more than one million barrels per day (bpd) -- a surprise move that briefly buttressed prices but failed to bring about lasting recovery.

In October 2022, OPEC+ agreed to reduce output by two million barrels per day, a move that fuelled tensions with US President Joe Biden's administration, which said it amounted to siding with Russia in the war in Ukraine.

The announcement on Sunday means Saudi Arabia's production will stay at roughly nine million bpd, well below its capacity of 12 million bpd.