A report by Kamco Invest revealed that the production of OPEC members rose for the tenth month in a row in February 2022, to reach the highest production levels recorded in 22 months, as the group added the largest increase in production in seven months by 380 thousand barrels per day, bringing the production rate to 28.55 million barrels per day during the month, according to data released by Bloomberg.

The report stated that OPEC secondary sources revealed a higher production growth rate of 440,000 barrels per day, bringing the average production rate to 28.47 million barrels per day, and the increase in production was extensive and included most of the group’s producers, as only four producers recorded a marginal decrease, as Libya announced the largest increase in its production by 170,000 barrels per day during the month, bringing the average production rate to 1.12 million barrels per day (a growth of 105 thousand barrels per day), followed by Saudi Arabia with an increase of 110 thousand barrels per day, bringing the production rates to 10.17 million barrels per day (+141 thousand barrels per day according to OPEC), the UAE and Angola also increased their production by 50 thousand barrels per day, and Kuwait increased production by 40 thousand barrels per day, on the other hand, these total increases were offset by the decline in the production of Venezuela and Iraq by 50 thousand barrels per day and 30 thousand barrels per day, respectively, reports a local Arabic daily.

The report indicated that oil prices witnessed sharp fluctuations during the past few weeks against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the increase in cases of the “Covid-19” virus in China contributed to the exacerbation of the situation, as the price of Brent crude rose to $139 per barrel during the trading session after it was announced that the United States and several other countries in Europe banned the import of Russian crude oil and natural gas, while other countries reduced their purchases from Russia.

The report stated that the European Union is charting a path to develop a strategy that aims to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas by 80% by the end of the year, and that the restrictions imposed by OPEC and its allies with regard to increasing production also contributed to boosting the price increase during the past few weeks.

The report stated that ‘OPEC and its allies announced that they will adhere to its policy of increasing production by 0.4 million barrels per day next month, while some of the group’s producers are facing difficulties in production, which negatively affects the overall increase. Demand 100.9 million barrels


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