ECONOMY
OPEC output in September falls to lowest level in 10 years
Baku, November 1, AZERTAC
Crude oil production of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell in September to its lowest monthly average level in 10 years, according to data obtained by Anadolu Agency from OPEC on Thursday.
"OPEC crude oil production, based on secondary sources, fell to 28.49 million barrels per day (bpd) in September - the lowest level since February 2009," OPEC said in an e-mail.
"Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s production for September fell to 8.56 million bpd - the lowest level since May 2007," it added.
The main reason behind the decline was the drone attacks on OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia on September 14, which knocked out 5.7 million bpd of the country's output.
The kingdom gradually restored the lost output, which was equal to almost 6% of global oil production.
Yet, production decline in other OPEC members also contributed to the organization's crude output falling to its lowest level in a decade.
With struggles in its economy and oil industry, Venezuela, the world's largest oil reserve holder, saw its crude production decline by 46% to 644,000 bpd in September 2019, from 1.2 million bpd in September 2018, according to OPEC data.
After the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Iran in November 2018, the country's crude output fell to 2.16 million bpd from 3.45 million bpd during that period, to mark a 37% fall, OPEC figures showed.