OPEC’s crude oil production fell by 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February, due to the extra cut from top producer and de facto leader Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) showed on Thursday. According to secondary sources, which OPEC considers legitimate for measuring production and compliance, total oil production averaged 24.85 million bpd in February 2021, a drop by 650,000 bpd compared to January. Crude oil production increased in all three OPEC members exempted from the OPEC+ cuts – Iran, Libya, and Venezuela, the MOMR showed. But the biggest production increase came from Nigeria, which boosted output by 161,000 bpd to 1.488 million bpd. Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer and an OPEC member that has struggled with compliance with the cuts, saw its production rise last month after ExxonMobil lifted a more than a month-long force majeure on the Qua Iboe crude oil export terminal […]