“US Crude Production at Highest Level in 3 Years, Thwarts OPEC Efforts”

US crude oil production rose last March to its highest level in three years, indicating that the United States continued to pump oil into the markets, ignoring the efforts of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce oil production.

Data from the Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday showed that US oil production increased by 8.5 percent to 12.696 million barrels per day in March 2023, compared to the same month of the previous year.

Texas led the increase, recording 5.398 million barrels per day, which represents an increase of 1.8 percent compared to February 2023, and by about 8.5 percent compared to March 2022.

The rise in US crude production came to hinder OPEC’s efforts to withdraw oil supply from global markets, as oil production in the United States recorded its highest levels since the beginning of the Corona pandemic.

In April, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other producers from the “OPEC +” alliance announced an additional voluntary cut in oil production by 1.16 million barrels per day, bringing the total “OPEC +” cuts to about 3.66 million barrels per day, equivalent to 3.7 percent of global demand.

The markets are looking forward to the meeting of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, in Vienna on the fourth of June, which aims to discuss the transformation of the voluntary cut into an official cut, and to assess the levels of oil production in the global markets.