OPEC’s crude oil production rose by 390,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 25.46 million bpd in May 2021, the cartel said on Thursday as it started last month the gradual easing of the production cuts. The largest monthly increases in oil production came from top producer Saudi Arabia, followed by production hikes in two of the three OPEC members exempted from the OPEC+ agreement—Iran and Venezuela, OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report showed on Thursday. The third producer exempted from the cuts, Libya, also raised its crude oil production in May compared to April, when output was lower due to several days of force majeure at one of the oil export terminals. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and leader of the OPEC+ alliance alongside Russia, boosted its production by 345,000 bpd to 8.466 million bpd in May, OPEC’s secondary sources showed. Apart from the higher production allowed under […]