OPEC+ April Crude Supply Falls

Crude oil production by OPEC and its partners fell to a six-month low of 41.58 million bpd in April, as Russian production took a battering from Western sanctions, the latest Platts survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights found.
OPEC's 13 members raised output by 70,000 bpd to 28.80 million bpd, led by gains in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, but production by key ally Russia fell by 900,000 bpd, and Kazakhstan also registered significant losses, S&P Global reported.
This meant the glaring gap between OPEC+ production and quotas rose to a record-high 2.59 million bpd as 13 out of the 19 countries with quotas struggled to hit their output targets, the survey found.
The shortfall propelled the group's quota compliance to 220.3%, illustrating how the sanctions on Russia, along with capacity constraints faced by several members, have eroded the alliance's ability to balance the market even as it keeps raising its production targets every month.
The latest OPEC+ meeting on May 5 resulted in another 432,000 bpd collective quota increase for June.
Crude prices, which were already climbing as global oil demand has recovered from the pandemic, have largely remained above $100/b since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, though tempered somewhat by widespread Covid-19-related lockdown measures in China.