Saudi Arabia’s voluntary 1mn b/d production cut came into force in February and immediately caused crude production plunge to just 8.15mn b/d according to the aggregate of Opec Secondary Source estimates. Output looks to have dipped even further to 8.12mn b/d for March, with April likely to see a similar figure.

But Saudi Arabia announced following the 1 April Opec+ ministerial meeting that the cut will be incrementally eased from May. This should result in production increasing to nearly 8.50mn b/d in May before rebounding to a 15-month high of 9.50mn b/d in July as the kingdom also benefits from the easing of the broader Opec+ production cuts (MEES, 2 April). (CONTINUED - 172 WORDS)