The oil production cuts that OPEC and its partners led by Russia agreed at the end of last year are proving slower to materialize than most observers expected, with Russia breaking another post-Soviet production record in December, and Iran’s and Venezuela’s declines in output slowing down. That’s one of the main conclusions from the latest edition of the monthly Oil Market Report by the International Energy Agency. Russia produced 11.5 million barrels of crude daily last month and, according to the IEA, “It is unclear when it will cut and by how much.” Russia undertook to reduce its production by 228,000 bpd beginning this month, with the cuts to last until April, when OPEC+ will meet to review the results of its latest price-boosting effort. However, Energy Minister Alexander Novak warned early on—and recently repeated—that it would be difficult for Russian producers to cut quickly and by a lot. […]