Crude oil production by OPEC and its partners fell to a six-month low of 41.58 million b/d in April as Russian production took a battering from Western sanctions, the latest Platts survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights found. OPEC’s 13 members raised output by 70,000 b/d to 28.80 million b/d, led by gains in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, but production by key ally Russia fell by 900,000 b/d, and Kazakhstan also registered significant losses. This meant the glaring gap between OPEC+ production and quotas rose to a record-high 2.59 million b/d as 13 out of the 19 countries with quotas struggled to hit their output targets, the survey found. The shortfall propelled the group’s quota compliance to 220.3% — illustrating how the sanctions on Russia, along with capacity constraints faced by several members, have eroded […]