OPEC’s crude oil production has increased by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January as the OPEC+ alliance is easing the output cuts in the first month of 2021, the monthly Reuters survey found on Friday. OPEC’s production is estimated to average 25.75 million bpd in January, up by 160,000 bpd from December, and the seventh month in a row in which the cartel has boosted its production, according to the survey of OPEC sources, sources at oil firms, and tanker-tracking data. While most of the previous monthly gains in production were attributed to recovering output in Libya, which is exempted from the OPEC+ cuts, and poor compliance of some OPEC members in the pact, the January increase in production is not surprising, considering that OPEC+ decided in December to add 500,000 bpd in January to production. The alliance is easing the cuts from 7.7 million bpd in December […]